The Perils of Willow A Shard of Darkness Adventure
by avrjoe
Summary: Set in cross over world between Exalted and the World of Darkness. A young girl gets in over her head trying to help her brother, a recently Exalted Solar, learn about the strange power he has gained.
1. Chapter 1

This is a story set in a World of Darkness. It is not _the_ World of Darkness, it is _a_ Word of Darkness. A world where existence has continued past the Apocalypse or Gehenna or what ever one would call it of 2004. Such an event ended, not with a bang, but a whimper. By and large the world continued as it was. However, changes are on the horizon. The first of these changes came as fallout from the distraction of the supernatural world in dealing with the supposed end times as described in various mythos.

During that time people known as Projectors came out of the darkness and into the light. With them came the startling realisation that ghosts were real a provable phenomena. The world did not end at this revelation. It did not answer most of the great questions of life, for the ghosts themselves still asked many of the same questions.

Once the mortal population of the world accepted ghosts and the powers they, and these Projectors could wield, disembodied cracks began to form in the disbelief that long held magic at bay. Astral projection was certainly easy to accept under this new light of discovery and soon other psychic powers and phenomena became accepted as truth. New fields of study opened to learn the ways of the newly discovered power or rediscovered disciples.

None would call them magic, but those who deeply studied the field have begun to wonder where one should draw the line dividing psychic powers and the powers others claim are 'magic?' Were the myths of magic of old nothing but little understood psychic powers? No one could say for certain.

As the world was finally coming to grips with these discoveries, more events that could only be described as amazing began to happen. Circa 2008, roughly four years after the discovery of 'psychics', people began to spontaneously erupt with torrents of power, a psychically manifested aura of power. As such, those touched by such power became known as 'The Manifested.' These people wielded powers even the most powerful psychic couldn't come close to matching. The Manifested, it seemed, came in five varieties drawn down ancient elemental divisions. Some whispered of magic, while others spoke openly about unused portions of the human brain aligning to such grant such power.

The public at large, still not ready to collectively admit magical things walked among them, grabbed hold of cultural mainstays for answers. It seemed it was easier for most people to sleep at night if one could reason the world is awash with elemental powered comic book-like superheroes or mutants rather than magical beings returned wielding ancient powers.

The number of Manifested started to slow after the first wave appeared. After the first recorded incidents, only teenagers going through or just past puberty Manifested. While no one could predict who would Manifest, relatives of those already Manifested seemed the most frequent cases.

Statistical comparison of the current number of Manifested in relation to the slacking rate of new Manifested seems to indicate their numbers would stabilize at around one hundred thousand. The numbers are skewed gender wise: 99% female to 1% male. While no one is sure, intense speculation exists that the power of the Manifested might be genetic and may pass to the offspring.

Thus, in a post space and arms race world, a new kind of race has emerged; the Manifested race. The nations of the world court, recruit and even at times seek to kidnap or subvert the Manifested, as does every shadow player still lurking in the darkness of this world.

The year is now 2012. The world has managed, barely, to account to itself what the Manifested are and represent. The veil that separates the darkness of the world of the supernatural from the light of public admittance is strained almost to the point of breaking. Some groups prepare for their world to be thrust into the light of public knowledge, while some fight fiercer than ever to hold that filmy gauze in place.

They all hope for time to lick their wounds; a few more years to prepare, rebuild or cover up their affairs. No one is prepared for what 2012 will unleash upon them. This is a story set in this time of upheaval. As a power as ancient as the Blood of the Dragons that empowers the Manifested, a power restrained for eons from finding its way to humanity finally re-emerges. This is a story of ancient powers coming to deal with the full host of the Exalted.

**Author's Note:** There is another part to this story that is not my work. While I have assisted my friend in writing that part of the story, it is primarily his work. He wished me to be the prime author of this introductory tale. He has helped me with editing and grammar tremendously both of which I am horrid at. As such, we would appreciate anyone who reads these stories to kindly point out anything that is confusing, misspelled or worded poorly. We have both tried to skim the works as much as possible, but we are both sure there are errors we have missed.

This story picks up after the chartered end of my friend's story, the story of the Solar Exaltation of a young man named Kashi. Which, due to the prevalence of NPCs in the area from the World of Darkness, notably the computer game _Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines_, we chose to set the story in L.A. I wished to share this portion of the story and he agreed that it is more action oriented and more of a hook than his own work.

If this is well liked, I hope to persuade him to share his own work, but for now I am going to share a variation of an excerpt from his work that gives the physical description and small personality insights into two of the main characters of this tale.

* * *

Characters

* * *

**Kashi Kimura** - At seventeen years old Kashi possesses very unusual genetics. His father was originally from the Pacific island of Okinawa, hence his Japanese surname. However his mother is a blonde haired, blue eyed American girl. He possesses an eclectic mix of both their traits. He is very handsome and he knows it. Kashi received his mother's blond hair although his is a duller, sandier blond and more of a wild, spiky like mane than her almost platinum tresses. He also possesses her bright blue eyes. However, he is very tan and his face gives away his Japanese ancestry. He stands almost six feet tall and weighs roughly one hundred and eighty pounds. Although his bratty little sister would often insist that he _should_ weigh much, much more the way he ate. He has an athletic and very muscular build that he has cultivated by a lifetime of almost constant physical activity.

Kashi is an affable guy who often looks before he leaps. He is laid back and has an appetite that is almost unfathomable. He can be a tad arrogant and he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He is popular and well liked, at least by the majority of his peers, in particular his female peers. His teachers, on the other hand, range from either indifference to almost disillusionment due to his laid back and sometimes disrespectful attitude.

**Willow Kimura** - Willow is twelve years old. For siblings, Willow and Kashi look only vaguely similar and act remarkably different. Willow has a very small frame and only weighs about eighty pounds. Her hair is a silky almost luminescent strawberry blonde and it is almost never out of place. Her face sports more prominent Asian features than Kashi's and she is also much paler, although her skin is still darker than her mother's. She also sports a pair of bright green eyes.

Willow is fastidiously neat, despite being only twelve years old. She is also quite intelligent. Most would not apply this adjective to her older brother. She takes pride in all of her work and is far more adept with computers and technology than either her brother or her mother. She is slightly lonely due to the fact that she skipped the third grade, which makes her almost eighteen months younger than anyone in her class. She desperately wishes to prove herself to both her mother and her brother as she is certain, Kashi will eventually 'screw up everything.'

* * *

Time

* * *

This story takes place roughly a week after Kashi's exaltation as a Solar Exalt. He has absolutely no idea what has happened to him and is still stunned by his newfound abilities. Kashi exalted while attempting to shield another during a shooting in East Los Angeles. When he returned home to his mother and sister, his mother, desperate to shield her child from anything that might have happened to him, has demanded that he lay low and out of sight for the time being, even going so far as to ground him. As ludicrous as it sounds to ground a fledgling Solar exalt, Kashi has been in sort of a stunned stupor in the days following his exaltation. He has been having fantastic nightmares and visions that have cost him sleep. Worried about her brother, Willow has been trying to discover what exactly has happened to him.

* * *

Kimura House

* * *

Willow Kimura woke up as her MP3 player bleeped in her ear. She sat up and looked around as she flipped the player to another track. She looked at the time: it read 12AM, about the time Kashi normally started Illicitly meeting a girl or doing something else dumb that woke her up on a school night. Over the years she'd not only gotten used to it, she'd learned to utilize the disruptions. Her mother thought she went to bed at 9 every night and slept until the morning. In fact she had developed the ability to sleep in short shifts. She'd go to bed early every night then be awakened by Kashi's nightly rutting or other shenanigans only to get back to sleep a few hours before school started. She'd turned it into a habit that she kept up even when she was out of school for the summer. There was a lot you could get done in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep...or distracted otherwise. Stealing some of Kashi's gas and putting it in her mom's car was one thing. Stealing the next door neighbor's internet was another. Not that he used it much after dark anyhow. She considered it simply utilizing an untapped resource.

Booting up the computer she'd put together, she pondered the recent changes in her brother and worried. He was obviously disturbed by what happened. He wasn't up to anything this evening. It was oddly quiet in his room. She couldn't even hear him watching TV, lifting weights or eating. She assumed he was sleeping. Whatever had happened to Kashi it was similar to, but not quite like, Manifestation. She had searched about the Manifested and learned much about them. Reflexively, she scanned through her e-mails and prepped some pictures her clients from school were ready to buy. If she was lucky she could soon pick up the new hard drive she wanted. She'd almost saved up enough money.

She shook her head as she turned from that and started up the methods she used to mask herself online when she was doing legally dubious things. Tonight, however, she wasn't thinking about downloading and burning pirated music or movies for schoolmates... or teachers... she was going to do something a bit more risky. The Manifested were large in the public eye. There would be almost innumerable searches on the internet about such people. Her searching about them the last few nights might go unnoticed, but she didn't doubt with Kashi possibly having killed some of his attackers, her searching about what happened to him in greater detail might attract someone in law enforcement. Hence her secrecy.

She also knew the Manifested were barred from competitive sports as their abilities gave them an unfair advantage. If what had happened to him got out he'd be barred from play and lose his scholarship. He might even get locked in a lab somewhere. Willow began to dig. She'd peeped into the fringes of some groups that seemed to really know about strange phenomena and unusual occurrences. There was a lot of speculation in those circles about the Manifested. Some of it was obviously bullshit, in her opinion, but some made her stop and think. People used to say ghosts were fake till the Projector firms proved they really existed.

Willow lost track of the hours as she skimmed these sites. She finally found something real: a chat room with some people who seemed to know about similar manifestation like things happening. She chatted with two of their members.

**WillOwhisp:** _Yes it's like you said happened in Russia only rather than a brassy green light it was a sunny gold light._

**Keeper975:** _And you're sure it wasn't fire? Golden flames maybe?_

**WillOwhisp: **_No nothing like that. I stood in my friend's aura. There was heat but not like fire. It was like standing outside when the sun was intense._

**Seeker143:** _Was there any other sensations or manifestation other than visual light and a feeling of heat?_

**WillOwhisp:** _Yes. His clothing was sun bleached and smelled...well you know how laundry smells when it had been air dried? That's how it smelled. Which is odd. He normally smells like sweat or too much body spray._

**Keeper975**: _And that is the odd light that was reported a few days ago?_

**WillOwhisp:** _That is what he says. It wasn't that bright when I saw it, but I think it's like the Manifested. He didn't use much power when the light came when I was there. But when the Manifested use a lot of power or when they first Manifest it's like a beacon so I believe him. He's too dumb to make this stuff up._

**Seeker143:** _Interesting..._

Willow sighed. The two lapsed into "quiet" period with no postings. She was sure they were talking on a private channel, but she had yet to figure out how to gain access to anything deeper than this visitor's area. She rubbed her eyes and wondered if she would gain anything useful from this. She nearly jumped when a soft chiming noise alerted her there was a new post.

**Seeker143:** _Do you have any physical evidence you can share? Something we can test to see if this is worth investigating?_

**WillOwhisp:** _Yeah. I can get his clothes. The sun bleached ones. I don't know how useful that will be..._

**Seeker143:** _You'd be surprised... Good. Bring them to me. I can give you an address where we can meet._

**WillOwhisp:** _When?_

**Keeper975:** _Now._

**WillOwhisp:** _Now? It's... almost 3 AM! I don't have a car!_

**Keeper975:** _Who lives in LA and doesn't have a car?_

**Seeker143:** _Well it's a few miles from where the light was seen. You should be able to make it just be careful._

**Keeper975:** S_he's stalling for time. She needs to fake up the evidence. I told you this is a hoax._

Willow became angry at that accusation. Well, she was mad at the accusation and mad at herself. She realized she should have never let a male pronoun slip earlier since she had Keeper had been a pain, but writing gender neutral was so hard. Keeper had haughtily pointed out that with a mere 1% of the manifested being male her story already felt unlikely. Her keyboard clicked angrily as she typed.

**WillOwhisp:** _FUCK YOU! This is not a hoax! This is serious! But I'm a woman without a car. I'm not hiking my ass out there at 3 AM! It's dark and the crazies will be out! YOU risk getting murdered and or raped, jack!_

**Seeker143:** _Easy, Keeper. Okay, look WillOwhisp, you don't want us to know where you live and we have a policy to meet reportees quickly to ensure their stories check out. If you want our help you have to get here. You can call a cab and I'll pay the fare once you're over here._

Willow bit her lip. She had snuck out of the house before. It wasn't too hard. Her brother and mother slept like the dead, but she had never left this late and she never went more than a block or two. This was very different. She looked at her other leads. Most had already dead ended. If this didn't pan out she wouldn't have much else. For once her mother and brother were at a total loss and they needed her. This was her chance to help and prove she could pick up the slack when Kashi screwed up. With a sigh, she typed that she'd be there soon as she could. She knew she'd have to walk a little bit at least. She wanted to get a taxi away from the house so they couldn't get her location from the driver.

Shutting down her computer, Willow slipped out of her room, used the bathroom and collected Kashi's clothes from the night of the event from where she'd hidden them. Just in case of trouble she sadly slipped the only hundred dollar bill in her secret stash into a hidden pocket of her pants. If things went bad she'd still have a way to pay the cabbie to take her home. With trepidation, she slipped out the front door.

A few blocks from the house she called a cab and waited. She was pretty sure these guys thought she was older. She might initially get some bad reactions, but she'd never told them she was older, and she had Kashi's clothes. That should tell them something. Maybe it would be enough to convince them to help figure out what had happened to her brother? She hoped so. She'd hate to think this late night cab ride was for nothing.

As her mind frantically ran in circles, she didn't notice as a blur of motion slipped behind her and then reached out. Her first clue of danger was too late as, with iron strength, a hand reached out around her mouth with a cloth. Her first surprised gasp filled her lungs with something chemical smelling and the world went black.

* * *

Anaheim

* * *

James sat at a diner. It was mostly a dive, but had free wifi. He was still arguing with Keeper about this WillOwisp situation. If the woman didn't show he would have egg on his face, but his gut told him things fit. He looked at the screen of his laptop. The private, Hunter only chat lit up with a few other Hunters asking about his meeting. He hated to tell them he was stood up, but it looked like that was what was going to happen.

He sighed deeply and got up to get a refill of coffee. He'd been sitting here for so long he'd rather not aggravate the wait staff any more. They were clearly on the edge of asking him to stop nursing the coffee and leave. It was starting to get light outside and the breakfast crowd was beginning to file into the small diner.

When he sat back down, he was taken aback. There was a message in a notepad document open on his screen. He looked around the room in panic. Someone had touched his rigg?! security was tight now a days. A non Hunter shouldn't even be able to read the dialog but, it was still an unacceptable risk, he shouldn't have left the laptop open.

His scan of the room revealed nothing odd, worriedly, he read the note.

"_They have the girl. She called the Bumble Bee Cab Company to pick her up at the location you'll find in the Google maps tab I opened on your web browser. Good luck saving her. If you don't she may die"_

James felt his throat go dry.

"What the hell...?" He thought.

He could get in a lot of trouble but he didn't dare keep this from the others. He hurriedly typed into Hunter chat.

**Seeker143:** _Guys... I might be responsible for a security breach. Something very funny is going on here?_

**Keeper975:** _God damn, Seeker! What the hell is it now?_

**LucyNDskies:** _Seeker, are you okay?_

**Seeker143:** _Physically yes. I got up for coffee and found someone, in the time it took me to walk to the counter and fill the cup, had hacked my screen saver and left a message on my computer's desktop. The message says the girl was kidnaped on her way here. They left a location._

James felt bad about lying, but it was only a white lie and there was no way he was going to admit he'd been so careless to leave his laptop open with no screensaver up. Not with Keeper already pissed at him

**Keeper975:** _Wow this isn't a waste of time...it's a FUCKING TRAP!... stay right there I'll find someone local to trail you. Maybe we can turn the tables on the trappers._

**LucyNDskies:** _Actualy I'm close by already._

**Keeper975:** _I thought you lived in San Fran?_

**LucyNDskies:** _I DO! But I happen to be in LA, thank you, and why is none of your business, Keeper._

**Keeper975:** _Easy, easy down girl. Right, okay, well you know Seeker's location. Go help him, but stay out of eyesight._

**Seeker143:** _No. Meet me at the location I'm sending you. I'm going to check this out._

**Keeper975: **_The hell you are! You wait for backup before you head out there!_

**Seeker143:** _Keeper, if this chick was kidnaped, we're in a very time sensitive context. If not whoever used my computer is IN THE ROOM with me! I'm NOT waiting here._

**LucyNDskies:** _Go on Seeker, but remember to be very careful. You have one of the new cells?_

**Seeker143:** _Yes. I have it with me. While I'm gone, Keeper, wake up Runner88. Tell him to trace the call for a cab pick up at that address._

**Keeper975:** _If there even was a call..._

**Seeker143:** _There was! Do you think I've been sitting on my hands while you and Lucy argued? No one was there when the cabbie reached the location. He left thinking it was a prank. Wake up Runner get me an ID on the phone. Even if it was a cell he should be able to dig up something!_

**Keeper975:** _Smart, okay, maybe you're not completely hopeless after all. I'll get on that. YOU be careful_.

**Seeker143:** _No argument there. Signing off and in route._

James got up and stored his laptop in his backpack. As he left he took one last, long look at the Cafe. Seeing nothing suspicious, he started on his way.

In the corner of the dinner, a slightly weather beaten man in his late 30's pulled his cowboy boots out of the other side of the booth he occupied. He slid his plate of steak and eggs away. He fished around in his faded jeans for a $20 bill. He tossed it on the table casually, despite the waitress never bringing him a bill. He pulled on his beaten, brown leather jacket which he wore despite the heat and ran his left hand through his dirty blond hair. He picked up his old army sack in the other hand. He fiddled with a smartphone which he seemed to have been texting on for the last few hours. It was the only thing that compromised his urban cowboy motif.

He walked out the door without a backwards glance. His cellphone pulled up a mapping GPS that showed where he was and where the young hunter WillOwhisp had been planning to meet was now. He might not be able to break the supernatural protection on to see what they were talking about amongnst themselves, but he sure as hell could bug and follow this lone dipshit. With a casual grace he tossed his army pack onto his Iron Horse and eased the bike out on the road. He hoped the Hunter was up to the task of finding the girl before it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

Kimura House

* * *

Kashi woke up groggy and tired as he had the last few days. Once again he had been dreaming. They had been weird dreams too. I was like someone had taken some of the old Wuxia films he'd once watched with his Old Man and thrown them into a blender with some Anime and a really crazy Sci Fi. Many of the dreams turned into nightmares. They were all very intense and left him feeling drained. So drained he hadn't been sleeping well. He'd come home and just crashed the previous night. He looked over at the clock and groaned it read 7:30!

"Aww, man! I'll never get back into my normal groove." He thought.

Disheartened, he got up and followed the urging of his rumbling stomach to head into the kitchen. Once there, he lumbered around sleepily. His mother was already awake and she flitted around the kitchen in great contrast to Kashi's stupor.

"Kashi I'm out of here. Remember to save some of that breakfast for your sister. Oh, and check to be sure she doesn't need anything when she gets up." Banyan commanded.

"Huh? If I do that she'll want me to do something, and I was thinking about going into work." Kashi protested.

"I talked to Leo. He doesn't have any work for you for the next few days. That means you have no excuse to go to the beach and lie around." Banyan replied.

"What?! Wait a minute!" Kashi protested again.

"What part of 'you're grounded' didn't you understand or did you just doubt my intelligence? Your sister doesn't get her smarts from thin air, Kashi. YOU are staying here!" Banyan ordered.

Banyan practically flew out the door keys in hand. She closed it hard, but not quite slamming it on the way out.

Kashi started to wonder if this day could get any worse. He turned back to his breakfast. He set aside a single slice of toast and four small spoonfuls of cereal. Willow was small. He reasoned it would do.

Kashi chewed through the rest of his breakfast. He drank the remaining milk straight from the half gallon jug. He devoured the last third of a box of cereal, save for the pitiful amount he left Willow, two bananas, and a huge stack of toast with peanut butter and Nutella, save for Willow's lone piece. He then hit the showers in hope that it would wash away his tiredness. It helped, somewhat. Once clean and dressed he realised he had very little to do. He looked around. He started to wonder if something was off. He was feeling better today, more...normal. Just as he was about to text a girl to come over and hang out a bolt of insight flashed through him. He realised Willow had still not gotten up and bothered him.

"Willow get down here and eat or I'm going to finish off your breakfast!" He yelled up to her room.

Kashi waited a few minutes then curiously wandered upstairs. He quickly opened his sister's door hoping to catch her by surprise. Kashi was the one who was surprised, however. The room was empty. He looked around puzzled for a moment be he walked to her computer and wiggled her mouse. The monitor lit up to a passworded screensaver.

Kashi rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the little girl pop star images floating across the screen. The he did a double take was that a … dude? Unsure of the gender of the singer, Kashi turned away to check the rest of the room. His eyes swept the meticulously organized space. It more resembled an example of a child's room from a magazine than an actual living space in his opinion.

"She's such an OCD freak." he thought dismissively.

Kashi put his hand on Willow's bed. It was cool to the touch. She might be able to make a bed military straight in seconds flat but even his sister couldn't make body heat vanish. This was something Kashi knew from experience - even using Ice cubes. No one had slept in this bed

As he walked back down stairs, disturbed, Kashi's mind started to ponder the situation. First things first, however. He would eat the 'breakfast' he sat aside for Willow. That was obvious. The cereal vanished in one quick gulp but, lost in thought, Kashi chewed the toast slowly. She would be in so much trouble when mom came home. It was almost funny. However, then his mom would turn on him. She told him to watch her. Nevermind that she was already gone when she told him this. She had to have left before Banyan got up. Little brat. Always getting him in trouble!

After polishing off the toast, Kashi deleted the text he was about to send on the phone Willow had given him. She put his SIM card into it, so it would function as 'his' phone, even if it was the last phone on Earth he would ever pick for himself. He had pulled some of the girly stickers off, but there was no getting rid of the small, fake gemstones or doing anything for it's Lisa Frank like color scheme.

He held the phone in his hand, looking at it in disgust for a moment, before he got an idea. Willow's phone had a GPS system in it! If she took it with her, that's how he could find her! He immediately flipped through the phone's menu system before he came to the Customer Service number. He dialed.

"Hello? Yes, I need some assistance. I'm Kashi Kimura. My sister has gotten herself lost. We're on a family plan. I'm calling from my phone. My mom is at work, so I'm looking for her. I can give you our numbers but I'd rather you not call her. The boss doesn't like her getting calls at work." He told the representative.

He then thought to lay it on thick, just in case.

"I just want to be sure she's okay. She's only twelve and cute. I don't want to see her on a milk carton." He continued.

"God, that WOULD ruin a breakfast! Seeing her face on your milk!" Kashi thought.

While the lady at the phone company looked up her location, Kashi found his wallet and keys and prepared to leave the house. It was looking like this was going to be a lot more trouble than he thought. Any other day she'd be sitting in her room before a computer screen not doing anything but when mom asked him to watch her? Off she went!

The phone company representative's voice came back on the line. She gave the approximate location of Willow's phone. Apparently it wasn't more than a few blocks away. Kashi thanked the woman and promptly hung up.

Kashi burst out the door and revved up his bike. The address that Kashi had been given was a local convenience store Kashi often frequented to get snacks. In fact, he'd meet up with some chicks there too, but Willow was too young and without transportation he reasoned...or was she?

"Well I was only a year older when I started." Kashi mused.

He then shook his head.

"Even if it's not for sex, she might be meeting some boy to moon over him and goof off." Kashi thought.

He convinced himself he had it figured out what was up as he raced on to the store.

The convenience store had gas pumps. Kashi noticed, however, he seemed to have plenty of gas. That was odd. He parked his bike outside. He scanned the parking lot. He did not see Willow, so he walked into the store. He would ask the clerk if he had seen Willow.

The only other customer inside at the moment was a twenty-something white guy that looked like a slightly lost Math TA. He looked like he belonged on a college campus more than a convenience store in Inglewood. He had brown hair and eyes glasses. Something about the way they framed his face gave him a constant bewildered look. His clothes were a 'slacker chic' sort. However, what really caught Kashi's attention was that he had Willow's phone in his hand.

"So, anyhow, it's password protected, but it says 'Willow's Phone.' Do you know a 'Willow' that lives around here?" The man holding the phone asked the clerk.

The clerk was a dumpy guy everyone called "Woodchuck" due to his front teeth, plump cheeks, and tiny eyes. He was lacking in hygiene, not too smart and reputedly lived with another guy. If this was true both Kashi and Willow had commented to each other he was the most anti stereotypical gay dude ever. Woodchuck looked up at Kashi as he came over.

"Hey, dude, that my sisters phone!" He cried out.

The nerdy stranger looked at Woodchuck, who nodded an affirmative. He then extended a hand to Kashi.

"Hi! I'm James. I was supposed to meet your sister about five hours ago out in Anaheim." He began.

Kashi narrowed his eyes.

"Dude, are you a total freak?" He asked.

"Huh?" James replied.

"Dude! My sister is like twelve and a half!" Kashi answered.

James eyes widened.

"Huh?" He repeated.

Kashi mimicked a reporter's voice who was famous for catching child predators.

"Have a seat... have a seat right over here." Kashi said.

He waved his hand to a booth where people could sit and eat the convenience store food on site. As the pair walked to the back of the store, Kashi pulled a burrito out of the cooler and popped it into the nearby microwave. As a regular and likely the most steady customer in convenience store history. Woodchuck knew not to worry. Kashi would pay for everything when he was through.

James' eyes widened with comprehension as Kashi waved him to the back of the convenience store. His face flushed red.

"No no no! Nothing like that! She wanted me to help her with a problem." He explained.

Kashi stood at the microwave, waiting for his burrito to finish microwaving. He turned to face James who now sat at the booth.

"Virginity isn't a problem, so much as a status, and unlike Facebook it's not one she should be updating." Kashi replied. He was proud of the cleverness of his retort.

Kashi slid into the booth with his heated burrito in hand. He started to unwrap it as the flustered James struggled to explain. He looked at his phone then back up.

"No! You see she was talking to us about paranormal activity. People who possess strange powers, like the manifested, but lacking their elemental nature. Someone... "

He looked Kashi dead in the eye, his former nervousness gone.

"...like you."

Very slowly Kashi swallowed a bite of burrito. It threatened to get caught in his suddenly tightened throat.

"DAMN Willow! What the hell had she told this guy!" He thought nervously.

Kashi's tan faced paled slightly. He tried to cover up by lying.

"You got me! I'm the wizard Galbreth the Grand and I have to lead the Eight Hikers to the Mountains of Devastation to save the world, but we'll be making many stops due to my homosexual attraction to small faggy dudes with hairy feet." He joked.

James smiled, amused at Kashi's cover up sarcasm.

"Nice try but I'm used to getting sarcastic denials. Let me start and you can fill in the blanks. About a week ago, while in a bad situation, you were filled with power. This power flowed outwards filling you and giving you the strenght to fight back against something that hurt you. It was a light so bright it bleached your clothing it burned you. Not like fire but like a sunburn. When you got home you confessed what happened to your family and your sister noted your situation seemed a lot like manifestation which..."

He paused and glanced at his phone again. As he paused, Woodchuck took the opportunity to set down a corndog plate with fries and a coke. Kashi gave him a grateful nod. As soon as the dumpy clerk was out of earshot James continued

"...which, needless to say, freaked you out 'cause you're a local soccer star and hope for a scholarship which, as a Manifested, you'd be ineligible for."

"That's crazy! The Manifested are rare and valued! They'd be swimming in cash, it would make a scholarship look like pocket change." Kashi attempted to argue.

"Normal Manifestation, maybe. but not one like this...?"

He held up his phone and a short video played. There was a man ripping through lines of thugs with guns. Around him was a roaring pillar of brassy green light, in the light seemed to be the looming image of some sort of freakish animal. Kashi didn't understand the foreign words being spoken in the video, but recognised the tones fear and cursing from the thugs and rage and anger, almost unbelievable levels of anger, from the glowing man.

Kash was shocked. He swallowed the last piece of corn dog he had been eating. He looked up and met James' bespeckled gaze.

"What was that?" He asked quietly.

"Two weeks ago in the Ukraine, in Kiev to be exact, that man, whom we have identified as Gregor Vot, a petty leg breaker for the Bratva, had been assumed dead when the gas main to his apartment mysteriously sprung a leak and ignited several days ago. As you can see reports of his death were... somewhat exaggerated."

The video ended with a close up of the man's face. It was contorted with snarling rage. On his brow there was a glowing image. It looked like two crossed swords glowing on the center of his forehead. James put the phone away and spoke again. His tone changed to an authoritative one.

"Willow came to us because we _CAN_ help you, even we aren't sure what you are but we promise we will do our best to help you find out and to help you control whatever powers you possess. All we ask is to learn what we can about them as we do and..."

He paused, as if he was thinking intently.

"...that you swear to never, NEVER use your powers to harm the innocent." He said.

Kashi, his throat feeling dry, took a large gulp of cola and looked into James' eyes. He wasn't sure what to say. finally he settled for asking about Willow.

"Where is my sister?" He asked.

James' seemingly all knowing demeanor broke instantly and was replaced by the befuddled expression he had been wearing when Kashi first met him.

"Umm.. we're not sure we have people working on that..." He replied.

Kashi was becoming agitated.

"For fucks sake! You expect me to trust you with my secrets and you LOST my sister?" He replied.

"Umm...well, we never really had her to lose. I mean she didn't show up but..." He started.

Kashi cut him off.

"She should have never left the house! You convinced a twelve year old to leave Inglewood in the middle of the night to travel to Anaheim! What the hell?" He asked, obviously frustrated.

Kashi may have complained about Willow and teased her often, but she was his little sister. He was her big brother. He felt protective of her. She was weaker than he was and he felt it keenly. It was a feeling that he'd been feeling more and more over the past week. James blushed and cleared his throat.

"Well we do know someone took her...well at least we do now...umm..."

He glanced back at his phone.

"..and we have some likely locations we can check where they might have taken her."

Kashi glared with none of his usual humor.

"If she's not okay when we find her I'm holding you and whatever your group is responsible! And you've seen what one of the Exalted can do!" Kashi threatened as he pointed at the phone.

James blinked, confused by the term.

"The Exalted?" He asked.

Kashi felt some confusion as well. The term had just popped out of his mouth. Then he realised the term was, he thought, from one of his dreams.

"Yeah.. that's...umm...that's what we are, the Exalted" He replied.

He stood up and turned. He tossed the two corn dog sticks and the bare plate of fries in the trash and paid up. James was slightly taken aback. Both by the threat and the fact that Kashi had finished all of that food in the short span of their conversation. He stood up as Kashi returned to him.

"Then I guess we better get moving if we're going to find Willow." James offered.

* * *

Not Far Away on a Motorcycle

* * *

From a side street near the Inglewood convenience store the figure from the diner watched nervously running his hand through his hair. He looked at his watch: 9AM. Still plenty of time before dark. Surely these guys could find one little girl and get her out before dark. He watched them drive off shaking his head at the nerdy Hunter's Ford Fiesta. He then gazed admiringly at Kashi's Harley. Once they were past, he cranked up his own motorcycle and headed out. Maybe while they searched he could turn something up himself.


	3. Chapter 3

In a Dark Room

* * *

Willow had no idea where she was, nor how long she'd been in this place. She was hungry, thirsty, and her head was pounding. She didn't even really know how long she'd been awake. She was blindfolded and tied to a chair. She'd tried to move her wrists hoping that, like in a book, she might be able to wriggle herself loose. However, she had no such luck. The nylon ropes barely let her circulation through.

She started to worry about the strangest things. She realised it must be some sort of coping mechanism. Her mind was worrying about trivial, almost absurd things. What if she ended up peeing her pants or starving? She was not worrying about the bigger issues like who had done this and what did they want.

Willow faded into sleep a few times again after her mind wore itself out from panic. She deeply, oh so deeply, regretted trying to help Kashi.

A strange, sibilant voice called out in the darkness.

"Here she is! The tender little morsel! Shall we devour her now? Perhaps having a few bites taken out of her will free up her tongue! She doesn't need arms to talk after all!" The voice taunted.

Willow jerked by reflex. The voice was right in front of her nose. Then another voice, one far more guttural, answered from just behind her left ear.

"No. I think not. Her fear and Isolation should have tenderised her enough. After all we can return her to nothingness easily enough. In time she'll break." The guttural voice croaked.

The sibilant one chuckled.

"True, she'll not seem so pretty once she's sitting in a pile of her own piss and shit. Her limbs are already skinny so what if they turn to boney little sticks with only a veneer of flesh."

A third voice entered the conversation. It was kind sounding and had a lilt like a princess from a movie.

"Now boys, she's just a child. I'm sure she can be well behaved like any good child."

Willow couldn't be sure, but she thought the kind voice came closer. This was reassuring, considering how close the other two already were.

"Now, Willow..." The kind voice called from just to her right "...we want you to tell us a few things. Some we already know. so we'll know if you're lying."

Willow found her voice. It was hoarse from not having any water.

"Who are you people?"

She received a sharp needle of pain which lanced through her left hand as an answer. She screamed.

"No, no! We do the questioning here, missy." The sibilant voice called out.

Willow felt the tears under her mask and something foul and slimy touch her hand. She almost gagged but the feeling of blood on her skin stopped.

The kind voice then continued in place of the sibilant one.

"Now, now we didn't give the girl fair warning. We should have at least warned her before doing such a thing. I'm sure if she knew the rules such a thing would not have happened." The kind voice purred.

Willow sobbed. What rules? What were they talking about? However she was too scared to ask anymore questions.

"Then you'd better clue her in fast before she does something else stupid" The guttural voice snapped.

"Yes, yes I was trying to get to that! Now back up you two, let me in closer." The kind voice replied.

There was no sound of movement but the voice came from close to Willow's right ear now and whispered.

"I'm so sorry but I can't get you out of here until you tell them a few things. You must only answer questions, however, never ask them, and don't speak out of turn."

The guttural voice was not much further than the kind one. That was not comforting.

"You speak out of turn and there will be consequences. We'll leave you here till you look like one of those starving Ethiopian children." The guttural voice threatened.

"You're dating yourself. Those commercials don't play anymore, but I'm sure as a smart girl Willow here has seen pictures of starvation and what it does to the body. It's gruesome and ugly. Such a pretty little girl wouldn't want that to happen to their body." The kind voice warned.

Willow continued sobbing. There was no reply to her sobs. When she finally stopped, she was afraid they had all left and that she'd sit here for days longer in the dark, trying not to pee herself. It was almost a relief when the voice spoke again.

"Who is the man who glowed like the sun? Who is the man you were talking about online?" The kind voice asked.

Willow had never been so scared in her life. She knew these people were professionals. They would tear her down and break her will. She had read enough books with such things to recognise some of the techniques. However somewhere inside of her another voice urged her to resist.

"You're clever Willow! Not just the stupid little girl they think you are!" Her own mind assured her.

Willow swallowed carefully before finally answering.

"It's... it's my brother, Kashi. Just please don't hurt him or my mom!" She begged.

They had kidnaped her. They had been reading her chat, known who she was talking too. Whoever these people were they were good. There was no way they didn't already know it was Kashi. He'd be the first suspect.

"And the clothes you were carrying? They were his from that night?" The guttural voice asked.

"Yes!" She answered.

"The blood is it all his?" The sibilant voice asked.

"I think so."She answered again.

"Alright now, Willow, you're going to think back to the night Kashi came home. I want you to remember every detail I wan-"

Willow never found out what she wanted. A loud noise of twisting metal and snapping wood drowned out everything. That was followed by the sounds of breaking glass and thudding impacts mixed with meat being sliced. Something bowled Willow over, **hard**. She felt the strange feeling of having the wind knocked out of her. She gasped in great gulps of air and tried not to panic. She remembered the other times she'd had the wind knocked out of her. It usually happened when she was trying to jostle past the solid wall of muscle that was Kashi and instead slammed into him.

The she felt around desperately, despite the pain, for anything near her bound hands. She knew that she would be bruising badly on the side she landed on. It was then that she realized the chair! The chair had a crack in it! Wiggling even more she found several parts were broken! Willow wiggled ferociously, truly thinking her life depended on it. All around were the sounds of conflict. Her arms were still tied but the top of the chair, however. She rocked the wooden frame back and forth and to her shock it came totally apart with only a little work! Her arms were free of the chair, but still bound to each other. She reached down to feel her legs. Each foot had been bound separately to a different side of the chair. She then realized they were not tied they were duct taped. She wiggled the chair legs free of the base of the chair then pulled against the tape. She felt her legs protest as neither chair nor tape wished to give free of her flesh. The chair legs dug wickedly into her legs but finally, with a twist, she got one and then the other free. She slipped her legs through her arms. Thankful for her skinny frame and now with her hands in front of her she lifted her blindfold to...

Horror.

She was in some sort of corrugated metal building built on a wooden frame. Like a large storage shed. Inside where people. Beings. Monsters.

Some of the figures were twisted, as if the flesh had been turned into molten wax and reshaped to have blade like bones in the place of hands. Some seemed animalistic and feral-like as if they weren't even humans. Some were twisted and deformed like the worst carnival freak show had broken out in a plague. However the worst were the ones who looked completely human other than the absolute rage that twisted their otherwise human features. Willow's mind recoiled. She felt cold. Somewhere, distantly, her mind told her it was shock. She was going to pass out. The world started to darken. In that dimming light of consciousness her fear told her one thing.

"FLEE! Run, Willow, RUN!"

She numbly dashed head down in a blind panic for the only cover she could see. She darted into some metal drums. Willow then collapsed, the darkness taking her.

* * *

Tremere Chantry

* * *

There was a certain building in downtown Los Angeles, a small unassuming building, dwarfed by the mighty towers near it. It was within this building that Solomon Fitz traveled. For those outside, the building might have seemed unchanging even timeless. It was inside quite a different place. It was a place of maze like corridors, vault like libraries and deep, ever so deep, mystery.

Sol lived on the second floor of this building. It was more normal then the lower levels. A fact for which he was very grateful. He, frankly, thought the way the corridors moved and changed in the lower levels to be quite aggravating.

"I really wish he would stop changing where the study is.." Sol thought as he finally found the doors that lead into the Tremere Chantries' epicenter.

He was unsurprised to find Maximilian Strauss, the Regent, waiting for him. The wards on the halls that prevented trespassers from finding the study also alerted him whenever someone came his way. The tall, pale, vampire with a shaven head peered out of his yellow tinted, round spectacles and raised an eyebrow.

"Apprentice. To what do we owe this visit?" He asked idly.

Sol smiled knowing it would irritate the Regent. He set down the cardboard box he was carrying.

"Hey Maxi! A little gift sent over for us to look at! Courtesy of Golden Gary." Sol answered.

The Regent frowned.

"If it has caused the Nosferatu to seek us out, it either is something very worrisome or something they will expect great favors in return for allowing us to examine. In either case it's of importance." The Regent declared.

He rose, smoothing his red leather coat and eyed the package as well as Sol carefully.

"What does this box contain?" He asked.

Sols humor vanished. He hadn't expected the Regent to take this so seriously. He nervously fiddled with his shiny polyester club shirt. It was decked with runes and icons that most would take as eclectic print, not arcane symbols.

"The light that erupted out in East LA a few days 's the clothes from the man responsible. It has his blood on them...or so they said." Sol answered as he gestured at the box.

The Regent's grim demeanor only became grimmer.

"Then it is nothing to be treated so flippantly, apprentice." He responded.

The older Tremere performed several arcane gestures, calling up magics stored in the chantry. He did so carefully. The magic in the chantry had been building for years. Care had to be taken as of late in balancing the power of the site. Harmful build ups occasionally occurred. It had lead to the occasional mishap. In arcane matters, as well as science, often too much power spelled far more spectacular failure then too little.

"Do you think there is need for that, Regent? The Nosferatu handled them without danger. Surely they are fairly inert?" Sol asked nervously.

Maximilian looked at him over the brim of his glasses with distaste.

"Magic great enough to call the sun at night and you ask if there is cause for worry? Surely you remember that many mystical relics are harmless in the hands of the uninitiated but can react in the hands of those of mystic endowment?" Strass chastised.

Sol nervously fidgeted.

"Perhaps I should have taken greater care with my safety..." He said.

"Your personal safety, apprentice, is of little concern to me as Regent. If you foolishly get yourself killed it's your own affair. The fact that you should have taken greater care before entering a site of power with such articles and possibly risked the chantry? That is another matter and one that will be recalled before reviewing your progress in the future." The Regent stated.

Maximilian opened the box carefully and withdrew the clothing inside. He set each article out on the table looking over each one.

"The being who wore these clothes lived I take it? How did the Nosferatu come by them?" The Regent asked.

Sol nodded.

"He did..."

He marveled at the mystical dance of forces before him. Like the Regent he was amazed by the level of residual energy.

"Whatever event caused this must have been mind blowingly powerful." Sol thought aloud.

"The preliminary report lists his name and address. It seems they found him through his sister. She was taking the clothing to some Hunters to be studied when they captured her. They are currently doing a thorough interrogation of the which they will dominate her to forget and release her attempting to frame the Hunters for her disappearance thus driving a wedge between them before such forces could join themselves." Sol reported.

The Regent whirled around to face Sol. He was aghast.

"The fools! We can't be sure mere dominate would completely cleanse the mind beyond the recall of such magics! They risk antagonizing a being potentially more lethal than a Fire Manifested with far greater mystical power fueling it?! Their lust for the secrets of others will be their undoing! We must be sure it's not the undoing of us all! Hurry you fool! They must be stopped! The girl must be removed from their 'care' and taken to safety at once!" The Regent thundered.

"Sir! If we directly interfere in a Nosferatu operation we might alienate the clan. With the balance of power in the city so thin..." Sol began.

Maximilian fumed.

"Yes. Blasted Treaty of '04! Yet the danger is so great our hands may be forced. Wait! Do you still associate with that riff-raff at the Last Round?" The Regent asked.

Sol nodded.

"Yes, I take it you wish to use them as a cat's paw?" Sol asked.

"Indeed. We can stop these events without compromising the safety of the chantry or clan." Strauss responded.

Sol's mind whirled.

"Then I think I know how to work this and the Nosferatu will owe us a favor in the end." He reasoned.

Maximilian raised an eyebrow.

"Manage that, apprentice, and I might see to overlooking your previous miscalculation with the package." The Regent offered.

"You can count on me!" Sol called as he rushed out.

Alone in the study the Regent pondered.

"That remains to be seen." He mused.

* * *

Outskirts Santa Monica

* * *

Kashi and James sat on an outdoor table under a palm tree at Big Kahuna Burger. It was early night and the sun had just set. Large fluorescent lights lit the outdoor dining area. James had finished his meal and was now sipping on a soda and munching on a few stray fries while he watched Kashi start on his third burger. The teenager in front of him had ordered three extra large burgers with everything on them, a mountain of fries, a huge cup of chili, three 'Pineapple Surprise' pies, two pineapple milkshakes, and an extra large soda.

"Man they are right! This is one tasty burger!" Kashi said with a large wad of burger still in his mouth.

"I am very suprised you can eat when your sister is still missing." James stated.

Kashi eyed the Hunter while he continued to chew. Once he swallowed he continued to stare at the hunter until James became exceedingly nervous.

"What? I'm just stating a fact." James defended.

"Alright facts. Let's set a few down the facts of the day. Fact: This is all your fault. Fact: You have dragged me though Long Beach, Compton all the way to Glendale and now out here almost to Malibu! Fact: We have wasted the entire day talking to crazies who I wouldn't trust to find their own ass let alone my sister! In fact when you said next we're going to Hollywood I was only surprised in that I figured your next stop would be Santa Clarita or while we're chasing our own tail why not Bakersfield! OHH! I know why not Sacramento! Hell, I got time to kill it's not like we're making any damn progress here!" Kashi replied angrily.

James glared at Kashi.

"Well finding her is not going as fast as I would have hoped, I admit! But it's not helped by the fact that we have to stop for food every hour! Did you eat like this before?! Because if not I would like to think it's a symptom of your condition and that no one could naturally have such an insane appetite." James shot back.

Kashi took the lid off of one of his drinks. He tilted his head back and drank from the last of his pineapple shakes. His adam's apple bobbed up and down rhythmically as he guzzled over half of the thick concoction before setting the cup back down. He didn't even try to stifle the huge belch that quickly followed.

James wrinkled his nose.

"I've always eaten like this." Kashi stated with a roll of his eyes as he popped half a pineapple surprise in his mouth and chewed.

"I think if my mom calls or texts me again I might do something crazy like pick up the phone and tell her what's going on. We could see what the police think of your group luring young girls into danger?" He threatened with a full mouth.

James took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Look, Kashi. I know it's hard to believe, but the people I've been talking too are important information brokers in the shadow world of the paranormal." He explained.

"Well you're right about it being hard to believe. Let's see, you had a goth-emo chick who was maybe sixteen? A bum who seemed half feral who lived in a cardboard box, a hairistu computer geek, and lastly three of the most butch old lesbians I've seen." Kashi replied angrily.

He then ripped angrily back into his burger.

"Am I missing anyone?" He replied with a full mouth.

"I think you mean hirsute computer geek..." James began.

"Whatever." Kashi replied.

James looked over.

"Look, you're a half Japanese high school soccer player from Inglewood. Do you seem to be the sort one would seek if looking for mystically powerful beings? Not really. Things aren't always what they appear, Kashi, nor are those we talked too. They are all very powerful. Although not like you, but they have their own powers, and most importantly they are known to have information. In particular the last group, those three 'lesbians.' I had to pay dearly to obtain this information. They seemed very reluctant to talk about your sister from some reason." James explained.

Kashi got up. He had finished eating everything he had ordered.

"Fine whatever. But we better get some results soon, mister or I'm out of here." Kashi stated.

He tossed his trash into a nearby bin and leaped back on his bike. James shook his head and got in his car.

"I sure hope this pays off" James thought as he texted Lucy with their next destination.

If the witch coven was to be believed about who had her, he doubted, despite what Kashi was and had seen so far, he would be ready to learn vampires were real and had his sister.

* * *

A Few Streets Away

* * *

Down the street at Carl Jr's, the cowboy got back on his bike. The Santa Monica Mountains Coven would likely start poking into things now. That was not what he wanted but he didn't see any other way to put the two back on track. Luckily the protections that were woven around the Kimura girl had thus far held firm. If her self appointed rescuers didn't find her this time he might have to take direct action and that could spoil everything. Prophecies were like butterfly wings. The lightest touch was needed or they broke. He checked his phone again. She was still safe but something was amiss at her location. He groaned when he saw what it was. He revved his cycle, taking off down the street. She was getting way too deep into the supernatural world far too soon. He feared she wouldn't go much further before she drowned.


	4. Chapter 4

I would like to thank everyone who has been reading. I have reedited the entire story to increase readability. As my first story on fanfiction it took some playing with the editing feature to get it right.

* * *

A Dark Storage Building

* * *

Willow heard noises. They woke her up from her sleep. The urgent needs of her bladder screamed at her as did the bruises on her arms and legs. She silently teared up but listened trying to figure out who was out there.

Four voices spoke to each other. Willow couldn't make out what they were saying. Just as she tried to listen, they all went quiet.

A hand suddenly grabbed Willow's. She let out a scream that immediately died in her throat. She was looking into the face of the most handsome man she'd ever seen.

"I told you I heard a heartbeat, Jahquil!" The handsome stranger stated matter of factly.

The man had pale, white skin and longish red hair. His hair was parted slightly off center. Willow couldn't decide if his eyes were green or blue. She stared dumbly for a minute.

"Great just what we need!" Said another man.

He had to be Jahquil. He was a large black man with a bandana do rag. He wore a button up shirt and jeans and looked menacingly tough.

Willow's eyes darted about taking in the other two. Both were female. One looked like she'd crawled out of the urban, white trash ghetto. In her knit cap wifebeater and low cut jeans. The last was the most masculine woman Willow had ever seen. If her face had not been so definitely female she'd wondered at her gender. Her posture was purely male. Her large shoulders and broad hips combined with a covering of no nonsense muscle clashed with the large breasts that defined her as a female. her canvas shoes khaki pants and tee shirt where unisex and without trace of style.

The muscular woman spoke.

"Aubrey find out what she knows. We're in a hurry." She commanded.

"Aubrey. What a pretty name..." Willow thought.

The handsome man helped Willow out of her hiding place. He bent down to look her in the eye.

"Hello, little one. It looks like you were in quite a pickle. What happened here, child?"

Willow looked and was aghast at what she saw. Most of the bodies appeared as they were during the fight. The warped were still warped. Some looked ancient, however, like decades of rot had claimed them since they fell in the fight. Willow was quite confused. She was about to ask what was going on when a firm pair of hands turned her back to looking at Aubrey.

The questions seemed to melt away as she looked at him. In the back of her mind something told her this was very wrong but... if looking at this gorgeous man was wrong... Willow was not sure she wanted to be right. If she could get a picture of him, she'd be replacing her Jay Odele screensaver she got with her _Sapphire Orchid Dreams_ CD.

"Don't look upon such ugliness. Look at me and tell me what you saw." Aubrey said with an an almost musical lilt to his voice.

"Umm it's really complicated. Some people kidnapped me, or I think they were people, they were really ugly. I mean REALLY ugly. Then these other people came bursting through that doorway. They were some sort of freaks. I just want to go home." Willow stated truthfully.

"...and so you shall child. We'll take you home." Aubrey assured her.

The large woman jerked her head in Aubrey's direction.

"The hell you will! You know what we have to do!" She hissed.

"She's just a girl, Janice, we are not doing that." Aubrey replied.

Willow tensed slightly.

"You don't have to kill me. I know when to keep quiet. If I was to talk about this I'd likely be put away. No sane people believe in monsters or that sort of thing." Willow asserted.

Aubrey looked down. Surprise registered on his face. Both Jahquil and the large woman, who it seemed was Janice, looked shocked. They both advanced, as if they were ready to do something physical. Willow's eyes widened as Aubrey pulled her close with one arm and pulled a pistol with the other. The woman who had yet to speak stepped forward.

"Let's not be hasty, now. Just ease up everyone." She said.

"Kaylee, you better talk that mother into putting that rod down or I'm going to rip his head off. No one pulls a gun on me " Jahquil advised threateningly.

"Why don't you convince me yourself Jah?" He said cooly.

Jahquil flexed his arm and seemed to be preparing to take action. Janice seemed to be eyeing Kaylee, ready to move if she interfered. Everything was set to break out into a very bad very violent end.

"Is there anyone more mature or perhaps a higher authority I can talk too?" Willow asked pleadingly.

Kaylee seized on the momentary confusion.

"Hell, yes! Let Nines make the call, or heck were not far from Santa Monica. Let Therese do it." She said.

Aubrey uncocked his gun and slid it back into his pants.

"He has to have a hidden holster there." Willow thought.

Jahquil nodded.

"Alright. We'll let Voerman make the call. Come on get the girl in the car and let's finish what we came here for." He said.

Kaylee walked over and flicked out a switchblade. Willow had a split second of panic before she started cutting the ropes that bound her wrists.

"Come on kid let's go." She commanded.

Willow followed her out of the storage building to where a van waited. Willow rubbed on her wrists as she walked to help the circulation. She glanced, surprised, at her left hand noticing there was no mark where she was stabbed before with the needle. She looked back at the storage shed. She noticed the windows in the broken garage door we're not just painted over but had been boarded over.

"I really have to pee." She said.

She looked up with hope to Kaylee who sighed.

"Come on, this way." She said.

She lead Willow to the storage park's office.

"There should be a bathroom in here. Just don't wander." She warned.

Willow entered the building and went to the back. She was very relieved to find a bathroom. She'd learned to be quick about her business. She had to with sharing a single restroom with her brother and mother...unless she was purposefully trying to irritate Kashi. She thought she might have a slight bit of time before they'd wonder what happened to her. She hid the paper towels and wet her hands. If they asked she was looking for the towels. An alibi secure, she started to look through the other rooms as quickly and quietly as she could. She had to suppress a yelp when he came to the second one. Inside there was a dead security guard. It was likely he was the only one who was here at the storage park this time of night. He was very dead. His gun was in a corner, his phone shattered on the floor near him. He'd been clawed apart and his throat ripped out. However, there was very little blood.

Willow thought to herself. He should have about five quarts of blood as large as he was, but that's not but a few cups at most. She pondered where the blood went. As she did, her stomach felt like it sank through the floor as it dawned on her. No use denying she decided. She picked up the landline phone. She was unsurprised to find that it was dead. She put it down and started back toward the doors.

"Well... I don't think they are the teen novel vampires." She inwardly lamented.

* * *

Two Blocks Away

* * *

James turned. If the GPS on his dash was right, just two more turns and they'd be at their destination. Looking back up from checking the GPS James saw a windowless, white van being followed by a motorcycle speeding the opposite direction. Much the same way Kashi was following him. James blinked and did a double take when he glanced at the woman on the back of the motorcycle. She was extremely masculine.

"Hey, Lucy. I think there might be a Warlock or something at work here. There are just too many coincidences in this case." He spoke to the phone on his dash.

The cell phone sat silently on the dash. It took a minute to respond, but finally Lucy's voice crackled out of the tiny speaker.

"Because someone else is driving a motorcycle?" Lucy scoffed.

"Yeah, but did you see the woman!? She's very masculine. Kashi's very feminine." He commented.

After a pause, Lucy answered.

"Is that some latent homosexuality peeking out, kid? Because that guy following you is a well muscled stud." Lucy observed.

James flushed slightly.

"Well...he might look like that from a distance! But, up close, his face is just a tad on the girly side. If he didn't work out and play sports he'd be a girly as... "

James searched for a comparison.

"...as Jay Odele!" He declared.

"If Jay Odele was following you I still wouldn't agree it's coincidence enough for a Warlock. I mean you saw a large white van being followed by a butch woman. You're in a small pregnant roller skate being followed by a jock. Now, get your head back into the game, kid." Lucy said.

James sighed. He took the last turn and drove into the storage place. Kashi pulled up as he got out.

"I take back what I said about those old women you dragged me to see." He began

"You've realised what you said was really insensitive?" James hoped.

"Nah. I saw that dyke on the bike! I think SHE'S the most butch lesbian I've ever seen!" Kashi proclaimed.

With a sigh, James kept walking. There were multiple storage units on this lot. Each one almost virtually identical to the other. He stopped close to the building in the very back left corner of the lot. He stood eyeing the blasted door and twisted corrugated siding.

Kashi walked up and halted. He took in the building and looked around.

"Holy shit! Those people are dead!" Kashi exclaimed.

His eyes darted among the bodies wildly searching. Thankfully, however, Willow was not among them.

James eyed the bodies as well.

"These weren't people...they were vampires." He declared.

Kashi turned to him.

"Huh?" He asked.

"They're vampires. You can tell in a multitude of way. However, usually the most telling is that vampires remains 'age' the length of their undead existence when they are slain. The years these were dead didn't cause the bodies to turn dust meaning they weren't that old."

Kashi eyed James wondering if he'd been following a lunatic around.

James pulled a pen out of his pocket and walked over to a body. He lifted up a lip on one of the corpses revealing a sharp, white fang.

"Holy shit!. Holy shit, dude! He has fangs!" Kashi exclaimed incredulously.

"I told you, they're vampires." James said.

Kashi was not sure what to think about all of this. His mind whirled. He looked at the rest of the room before he spied something. He ran over and picked up a small pair of shoe laces. they had to be his sister's, judging by the pop star logos running along the laces.

"Hey! Willow's shoe laces!" He exclaimed.

Kashi stood up and sniffed.

"Hey, do all vampires corpses smell like this...like gas?" Kashi asked.

"Hmm...yeah it does smell like gasoline..." He said idly.

He then whirled around in a panic. He checked the room, seeing a small device sitting in a bowl. He tensed slightly before bolting toward the exit.

"RUN!" James yelled as he dashed off.

Kashi, utterly bewildered, followed.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"The warehouse is rigged to blow!" James yelled.

"What?!, Seriously?" He asked in a dismissive tone.

He looked back at the warehouse and then looked at James with a raised eyebrow.

"There is an ignition device in a bowl of gas!" James panted.

Kashi snorted.

"Have you ever hung around anyone who works on cars?" He asked

"No, not really... I mean I take my car to the shop and stuff." He said.

"Liquid gasoline doesn't burn. It's the vapor that burns." Kashi explained.

"Look, vampires fear fire. If they have to use it they tend to use something that starts the fire once they are long gone. Maybe it won't start the fire 'til that bowl evaporates or something... Or maybe the top of it will spark that's sticking out of the gasoline..." James reasoned.

Kashi sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I'm going back in there." He declared.

He turned to make good on his word. When he got about halfway there the shed shot with flames.

"Well... I was expecting more of an explosion than just flames but still..." James said.

Kashi eyed James and sighed.

"Okay. I'll give you a bit more time. If Willow was here how do we track her now?" He asked.

"Well...they didn't walk." James said.

He looked down at his phone.

"This way! There's a truck" He pointed.

James lead Kashi to the side of the storage park, where indeed, there was a black truck covered with a sheet. Kashi ripped the sheet off. James tested the door. It was unlocked so he climbed inside.

"It has a GPS! We can find where they came from!" He said proudly.

However, Kashi's mind had suddenly drifted to other thoughts.

"Who the hell do you keep texting on that phone?" Kashi wondered

The soccer star started eyeing the surroundings.

"You can't be that popular." He observed.

"I told you! We have people all over. They phone me with info!" James defended.

"You just happen to have people wherever we stop? I don't think so. Someone's following along with us, aren't they? Get them out here! I don't like knowing people are following me." Kashi huffed.

"That's not going to happen." James stonewalled.

"Damn it! I have had about enough of this super secret bullshit!" Kashi raged.

"Just - look...just bear with it. It's better if someone else is watching us, that way they don't know we have backup. Here...we have an address now lets get out of here before the firemen show up." James said.

Reluctantly, Kashi followed James back to his car, hopped on his motorcycle, and followed him out.

* * *

A Few Streets Back

* * *

The 'Cowboy' had been following, out of eyesight, checking his phone now and then to be sure he was still a few blocks behind the Hunter. He was very surprised when he saw something else come onto his screen. The girl! He watched, with despair, as her dot on the map went right past the Hunter's dot.

"Oh for Gods sake! I pointed you right at her!" He said with disbelief.

If they hadn't dragged about so much they'd have her! They missed by minutes! With disgust he turned his bike and started to follow the girl.


	5. Chapter 5

In a Van Headed to Santa Monica

* * *

Willow was extremely bored. The ride in the back of the van with no windows was extremely aggravating. What's more, all the vampires that were with her ignored her. She was relieved when the van finally rolled to a stop in an alley. They had stopped by, what Willow guessed, was a club from the music she could barely hear thumping through the walls.

Ushered about, with the four keeping a wall around her, Willow was moved into the club's back door. Walking through the back room area and up a flight of stairs, they came to a halt in what looked like a records room. They stopped and looked around.

"Do you plan on sitting there all night or telling me what you want?" Came a voice from thin air.

It sounded not only ice cold, but electronically filtered. Willow looked about for the location of an intercom.

"Umm, Miss Voerman. We have a problem you see..." Jahquil began.

"...and you have brought this problem to my doorstep without even first finding out what it is." The voice replied.

"Well it's a little girl." Jahquil replied blankly.

"Quiet you fool! Lucky for you I happen to know exactly what is going on. If I didn't, I would likely have ended up having to kill you all!" The voice threatened.

The four looked confused. Then, two figures moved out of the shadows. One was a wild eyed, blond, caucasian male who had his hair up in a style similar to the rapper, Coolio. He also wore yellow goggles on his forehead with baggy cargo pants. Something about his bare chest made Willow think of Kashi. However, he wasn't nearly as muscular as Kashi, and her brother didn't wear nipple rings. The other was dressed like a fetish version of a '50's sock hop teen with a bouncy, black pony tail. Her blue eyes looked calm and serene. She looked at Willow and smiled beatifically.

"The egg has not hatched, but the chick stirs in its shell. Back to the nest with it or it shall never learn to fly." The 'sock hop' girl said to no one in particular.

"Freaking creepy Malks, look Stacy, we don't have time for your bullshit!" Kaylee blustered.

"If you value your life, Brujah, you will refrain from insulting my clan. Lest Andy here be forced to do something not so nice with your brain. Are we understood?" The voice came again.

This time not from a speaker, but from an open door.

Willow felt that THIS was a powerful woman. She was impeccably dressed in a pencil skirt with matching jacket and a simple, but elegant, blouse. She also wore a pair of pumps that accentuated her stance and the aura of power that radiated from her. Her blond tresses, pale skin and blue eyes made Willow think of her mother. Maybe she was just really missing home.

Therese eyed the four with disdain.

"Depart. We will take care of this situation. I have already called Nines and explained to him how badly you have misstepped and how you will be on call in the future to repay me for saving you from your blunder." She commanded.

The four seemed shocked but rather then ask what was going on they exited the room.

Willow looked at the three people standing in front of her. Logically, she knew things couldn't be much worse. The group she was previously with were two to one in favor of killing her, with one undecided. However, the group that first took her was of a mind to torture information about Kashi out of her. She then, suddenly, remembered something she'd seen on TV about killers. They often objectified people in order to make them less human and easier to kill. She nervously decided to try to humanise herself as much as possible.

"Um hi! My name is Willow! I'm a junior high school student from Inglewood. I doubt I'm old enough to be in a club like this, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I guess you kind of saved me from those guys. You must be a pretty important person. I asked them if I could talk to someone with higher authority or greater maturity and they brought me to you." She said nervously and somewhat rapidly.

"Oh? What does a sixth grader know about maturity?" Therese smiled.

Willow could see no warmth in that smile, however, she thought she could discern a bit of a lessening of the chill in the glare she had received before.

"Actually, I'm an eighth grader. I started school pretty early and I'm small for my age, plus, I skipped third grade. So your guess isn't that far off." Willow explained.

Therese looked Willow up and down again. She then shot a glance to the girl that Kaylee had called Stacy. Stacy's bubbly voice broke forth with the oddest nonsense.

"The egg returned, Helios' fiery wrath averted, the daughters of Janus prosper." Stacy responded cryptically.

"Come child." Therese held out her hand.

Willow suppressed a desire to bolt. Her mind raced over what Stacy had said. She was trying to make sense out of the nonsense. Obviously, if this powerful woman gave stock to the words they had some point. She had called her the egg before. Helios was a sun god. Vampires were scared of sunlight. Were they worried about Kashi, maybe? It boggled her mind, but with Kashi's aura of sunlight, maybe they had a reason to be worried?

She was lead by the hand into the room Therese walked out of just moments before. The other two stayed behind. Stacy waved as the door closed. Inside was an office or mostly an office. Half of it was a bedroom with a lighted vanity and a heart shaped bed. A folding screen separated the space somewhat. On one wall, a painting dominated the combined space. Viewable from both sides of the screen, it featured a stern looking man in front of an almost bare tree with only a few autumn leaves left clinging to its branches. In front of him were two innocent looking little girls.

"Is that you?" Willow asked.

She pointed to the girl on the left who had her hair down.

"Yes it is" therese said as she slipped behind her desk and started typing something into her phone

"You had a twin sister?" Willow asked again.

Willow looked pointedly at the other girl in the portrait with her hair in pigtails

"Yes. I still do in fact. Not that she's any help with things that really matter." Therese responded absently

"You look so lonely. I always thought if I had a sister, or even a brother, that was closer to my age maybe I wouldn't ever get lonely. I guess that was only wishful thinking. I mean, I guess, you're in the same boat I am. My brother is nothing like me. He never really helps or understands me. I thought maybe I could help him. That I could show him and my mom that I'm someone they can count on." Willow admitted as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Therese had stopped typing. She set her phone down and moved her chair.

"Come here, child." She said.

Willow nervously approached. Therese pulled a tissue out of a container and wiped Willows face.

"My sister and I fight. Well to be honest we fight alot. Quite a lot. However, we do love each other and we are nothing at all alike. Yet it's our differences that not only drive us to fight but make us able to see things the other misses. Together we're much stronger then we are apart. I'm sure you and your brother love eachother very much" She assured.

Willow looked at Therese in wonder. She was surprised such a speech could come from so seemingly cold of a person.

"You really think so?" Willow asked.

"Yes and I'm sure he's worried about you, but, he won't have to worry long. I have a few texts to send and then a friend of my sister's will take you home. You, missy, will have to be extra careful not to tell anyone but that brother of yours about what happened. You can tell your brother we know he's... special too" Therese said.

* * *

West Hollywood

* * *

"When I find Willow, I'm going to wring her scrawny little neck!" Kashi declared angrily

He and James were walking past a very obnoxious bunch of crossdressers who kept propositioning them.

"Just keep ignoring them. Like I said before they feed on attention. If you answer back they just keep going." James advised.

Kashi growled something unintelligible as a reply as he walked on.

James led on into an alleyway down the side of the alley he turned into another alley, then proceeded to a run down building. He and Kashi eyed it carefully.

"This rathole doesn't even have street access." Kashi said dismissively.

"All the better for those who don't want surprises. Little to no walk up traffic. In fact, if you don't know how to get here, you're not likely to try." James said.

"This just had better not be a crack house." Kashi scoffed.

He appeared to be stretching himself in a way that most athletes did to limber up. James assumed it was a nervous habit.

"It's not. We just have to find a way to slip inside unnoticed. Normally we'd wait for daylight. However, with a hostage in there, we need to figure out where they are at how best to.."

James was beginning to circle the place as he spoke. He assumed Kashi was behind him. He then heard a crashing noise and looked back. He saw Kashi kick in the front door. In a panic he ran back towards Kashi.

"Alright! Listen up! Where's my sister!? You losers bring her out or line up over there so I can kick all your asses in a orderly fashion!" Kashi's boisterous shout called out.

James peered into the house in dismay. Five vampires in the large first room eyed Kashi. Four more came from the back.

"Kashi, you idiot!" James hissed

"Dude, be a geek over there! You're ruining my badass intro! Don't worry I got this. I saw the John Carpenter Vampire movie." Kashi retorted arrogantly.

"Kill him!" A long haired vampire snarled.

The other eight all moved to obey. Four lifted crude weapons, two had their own fingers sprout wicked looking claws, while the last two cocked shotguns.

Before he could react one of the shotgun wielding vampires took a step backwards and vanished into the shadows. It was like the darkness swallowed him. Kashi felt a burning sting as a shotgun blast, from the other, hit him in the stomach. He didn't go down. He had become much more resilient since the night he got shot for the first time...the night the light came to him. Not to say the blast didn't hurt him. It felt like a kick to the gut combined with a burning sensation... like he'd caught his belly on fire. Paying more attention this time, Kashi could feel the power flowing through him into his skin. Instinct told him it was strengthening him, making him tougher. He rushed the first vampire and tried to focus some of that power into his fists. He struck the closest vampire in the gut and was amazed when the vampire before him screamed. His amazement turned to disgust when he felt something wet and slimy around his hands.

Looking down, Kashi found his hand had punctured the vampires torso and sunk his fist into his intestines. In horror, he pulled his hand out. It was coated mostly in blood and small bits of flesh and ichor. Kashi looked at the vampire before him. It hissed like an angry cat and then slammed both hands into his ears. Kashi stumbled back only to be hit repeatedly by multiple vampires with bats tire irons boards and a beat up golf club.

James pulled out a flare gun.

"Back up!" He warned.

He fired the flare. The vampires backed up a bit in shock as the shot smoldered in the wood of a counter near Kashi.

James aimed the gun.

"The next one to move gets this in the face! Now back away from the boy and..."

He stopped speaking as he felt the cold of a ring of metal pressed to his neck.

"...and, watch my head fly off!" The vampire that had previously vanished completed with his own ending. He had his shotgun pressed to James' neck.

Kashi froze as he stood up. He was locked in panic. He was going to watch James die. He was too far away. There was no possibility he could get there in time to stop the vampire from delivering a fatal blow. James might be a goober, but he didn't deserve to die and now he would he would die because he had followed Kashi into this place.

There was a gunshot. James and Kashi were amazed to find James' head didn't blow up like a smashed mellon. The blast came from the doorway where they had entered the building. A solid slug from another shotgun had hit the barrel shoving it away before the surprised vampire could act.

"Cowards! Picking on little boys! Why not try a grown up ya Pansys!?" A voice called.

Kashi blinked. It was a woman. A woman in yoga pants and a windbreaker. A woman with her hair up in a perm. A woman who was eighty if she was a day old. She reminded Kashi of Betty White.

Several of the bewildered vampires jumped into action, overcoming their surprise. Kashi whirled and threw out his fist hoping to lay one of his assailants out cold. He did not. Instead, he caught the vampire he intended to strike's bat with the punch. The wood cracked and shattered.

Kashi looked at his hand, amazed. That probably should have broken his hand. It wasn't even sore. The knuckles didn't even bleed.

The lead vampire eyed Kashi's forehead in wonder. His arms seemed to twist and melt. Bones emerged from the flesh and re-knitted into two sword blades. With a speed that defied logic, he leapt forward, his arms a blur of motion. Kashi tried his best to dodge and weave, but the sheer number of attacks was dizzying. He even managed to catch one with the back of his hand. To his pleasant surprise, and the shock of the vampire, the power infusing his fists deflected that attack as if his hands were iron.

Desperately, Kashi struck back at the vampire. His fist sought the center of his assailant's chest hoping, like before with the vampire he punched in the gut, he would blast into the torso, however this time close to the heart. Kashi pictured, in his mind, ripping the Vampire's heart out like one of the characters in the Wuxia movies his old man had loved.

James dove for cover. His aim was completely pathetic. His 'warning' shot had been intended to hit the vampire Kashi was fighting before he could make trouble. Now James was hiding behind one of the low bars that filled this room.

Lucy, who had arrived and saved James' life, had aim that was the exact opposite of his. The older hunter had been cutting loose with the shotgun full of slugs with an ease born of long practice and an aim that sought out areas to deal maximum damage. Already, more then one of the vampires had met final death when his chest or head was completely blasted away by the force of her weapon.

James noticed the power in Kashi had started to make glimmers on his forehead. He couldn't make out the symbol, but it made him think of the Ukrainian man with the sword brand. James fired his flare gun again to defend himself and wished his aim was better

"Lucy! I think we're going to have a situation! It will either make things better or A LOT worse!" he called out.

Lucy didn't answer. She was busy calling on her edges. With a strength that her moral code called forth she had overcome her body's age as well as mortal weakness. She clubbed a vampire with the but of her gun in the mouth and felt his fangs shatter.

"Get the hell outta here, James! You're not doing any good with that peashooter!" Lucy yelled.

Meanwhile, Kashi's punch connected solidly with the vampire's chest. It stoped flat. It felt more like striking the bat, like striking stone rather than flesh.

"Now you die!" The vampire leader said with a smile.

He struck again like lightning with a series of rapid attacks. Each attack drew Kashi's defense a bit further off. Unlike Kashi, this being had experience tricking an opponent into lowering their guard. When the last attack came, Kashi was wide open. He looked and knew there was no way he could move his arms fast enough to catch it. There was nowhere for him to dodge to get out of its path. He watched the blade arcing towards him and he pulled hard at the power deep inside himself. He pulled with a desperation born of looking sure death in the eye.

Most of the room was eyeing the fight. They all saw it, but their eyes had trouble following what happened. Kashi's legs shot his body up into the air with an unbelievable grace. His body rotated in a twist that seemed to defy simple science of motion. As the sword blade like arm moved to deliver a killing blow, Kashi's body vacated the space in a move that some would call sublime, that others would called transcendent, but that only could be properly described as perfect.

The light came then with that deep draw from the wellspring of power inside of him. It erupted from him and blazed out radiant and pure. It created an image of a torrent of crashing waves made of white, early morning light. All around Kashi contrails of beautiful white, gold, and pale violet contrails erupted. Within the center of this torrent of light, a golden oriental style dragon clutching the sun hissed angrily, but silently, at the vampire that had tried to kill Kashi.

Every vampire in the room panicked.

The light didn't burn like true sunlight, but it made their skin itch. The light made their eyes, so used to the cover of darkness, water. To every mundane sense it seemed pure golden sunlight. The hard wired instincts of the vampire's minds treated it as such. Some recoiled. They ran, screaming in terror. Those who didn't found another fear emanating from this aura. It intimidated them and slowed their attacks.

Seeing the vampires going insane and knowing there was no point to trying to avoiding their frenzy, Lucy called upon one of the strongest powers of the Hunters: a blazing wrath that was neither fire nor lighting. Some thought, as Lucy did, it was the power of God.

"Burn, blood suckers!" She yelled.

She enveloped the vampires running toward her and James as they sought the door in bolts of power.

Kashi struck again at the amazed vampire who's mind still tried to understand the impossibility he had seen. This time, Kashi marshaled all of his strength. Something within told him this had to end here before things got out of hand... before other people got hurt. These things were not human anymore and even if they were, their actions had caused enough harm that they had earned death. They would die so that others would live. Kashi struck, this time with both hands, not for the chest, but the neck in twin strikes. His fingers clawed at the vampire. They managed this time to sink into the stone hard flesh and Kashi pulled hard upwards, shredding the flesh of the neck. Bones popped as the weird, flesh warping vampire's head came free. With a roar, Kashi tossed it into the shadow melding vampire who was running for the back of the building. The shot caused him to misjudge a leap and he collided with a counter.

Kashi raced after him. He caught him and pummeled the creature again and again. He was venting the horror and frustration he had witnessed on this horrible creature. Not just at what he saw this day, but also the images that now swam through his mind; the images of his dreams. Battle after battle of wading through fields of gore and heaps of the dead. Dreams of laughing in triumph as the sky rained blood.

Whether they were dreams or memories they assaulted him with force he could not fight only channel. He stopped. He sank to his knees and began to weep. The vampire he had caught was an unrecognisable hamburger of torn flesh and blood on a wet floor.

"Come on get up, kid!" Lucy pulled at him.

"I don't... I didn't" Kashi stammered.

"You did what you had to. The first time is always the hardest. All your life you hear violence solves nothing. Well. Balls to that!" Lucy exclaimed.

James walked over and looked at Kashi's forehead. He took note of the symbol that glowed brightly there. He approached somewhat nervously as the phantasmic, golden dragon creature still swirled around Kashi. Already the energy surf around him had begun to dissipate, the contrails had all but faded and the dragon was becoming less visible. It did not hiss at James, but merely swirled around Kashi, almost playfully, as if it was eyeing him. James wondered if it was actually alive. He reached out to touch the creature and found his hand passed through the aura. Kashi's sister was right. It wasn't like fire. It was a comforting, warm radiance. Like the heat from the sun.

"Eight gold lines radiating out from a golden circle." James mused.

Kashi looked around, he was crestfallen and distracted.

"Willow's not here." He stated.

"No, she's not. I almost let you get killed because I was answering a text from a friend. We're going the wrong way. Another group of vampires saved Willow from this group at that storage unit. Some witnesses saw another vehicle leave. It had to have her inside. It it was a white van." Lucy said.

"That Van! The one with the bike following it! I knew there had to be something about that van!" James exclaimed.

"Don't get cocky kid, you lucked out. You're still a rube. Come on, boys, we have to get you cleaned up. Luckily there's some cleaning supplies and emergency clothes in my Red Wing." Lucy said.

"Clothes?" James asked

"Well YOU look okay, but you know what Kashi and I look like?" Lucy said.

James eyed them both.

"Like you've been mixing red paint in a open top blender" James stated.

"Not to mention the kid took a shotgun blast to the belly. And...he doesn't even look really phased. Even if his shirt is almost gone." Lucy mused.

She looked back at Kashi. His shirt had been ripped open by the shotgun blast. It revealed his prominent and well sculpted abdominal muscles. It looked like he had a serious rash or sunburn instead of a wound that would have killed anyone else.

"Well, regardless, we can't go anywhere until he stops glowing like a torch. We're just lucky the vampires boarded this place up. It keeps his light inside." James observed.

Kashi sat motionless as they bantered. He was uncharacteristically quiet. He wondered at what he had become and if these Hunters might be able to really help him? If he didn't get a handle on these strange visions and control of this power, he might lose his mind.

"Was that what happened to that Russian dude? Was that why there was nothing but rage in his eyes? Could I end up like that?" He wondered to himself.

There were no answers forthcoming, but Kashi, never having a religious upbringing, prayed to whoever or whatever might listen that it wasn't what the future held for him.


	6. Chapter 6

At a Club called Asylum

* * *

Willow watched the miss matched eyed vampire carefully.

"So that's the theme of the club you see, the Asylum, so the music choices are a bit surrealistic, or evocative. " Jeanette explained.

The sister of Therese Voerman wasn't at all what Willow had mentally prepared for. She spoke more intelligibly than the one called Stacy, but she still had an odd way of phrasing things or would express what she ment through riddles. She currently was helping Willow paint her nails pink with little glitter stars in the middle of each.

"Wow, that is pretty amazing that even though the songs clash with the other choices and the club's style that people have requested songs from Jay's new set! It's like having a Mozart performance break out in a polka jamboree." Willow observed.

"Yeah, that album's kind of freaky popular. Really, you should hear what a few of my customers like to imagine doing with him." Jeanette grinned wickedly.

"Yeah, I know a few girls who've said stuff like that." Willow nodded.

"Oh, not all of them were girls." Jeanette said.

Willow frowned. Jeanette laughed at her distress.

"Oh don't worry. I'm sure he has plenty of security if someone tried to make dreams reality. If not, dreams are safe. They are a way we can take wing on the backs of dragonflies and drift to the moon." Jeanette said.

Jeanette set the bottle down and motioned for Willow to hop up out of the chair and hold her arms out. She then set the diminutive girl on the vanity and sat down in front of her.

"Time for your toes! Yeah, imagination is great even when it's dark and twisted. It's a secret, special world. Sharing it with another is the closest thing to sharing your soul. Trusting someone to see the world of your dreams is trusting them to accept you. Even the parts you don't accept of your self. When we were little, Therese and I would imagine up whole kingdoms and ruled them as princesses. It was our world. Our special place away from loneliness." Jeanette explained.

"Heh. My brother's imagination is no doubt full of stuff to eat and porn mag girls to keep him company or feed him. He sneaks four girls a week into our place, not that he fools anyone. I mean, mom's busy and will miss stuff cause she works so hard, but she knows." Willow mused.

"I guess she's pretty understanding. I mean she doesn't try to stop him." Jeanette observed.

"I guess not, but it's still gross. He doesn't really care about them. He just wants to get off. I can't believe they let him use them like that." Willow said.

"One thing you'll learn, little Willow, is that some people want to be used. From what you've said your brother trying to lie is like a bulldog flying to the top of a tree." Jeanette said.

"Huh?" Willow asked.

"Amusing to picture, but not likely to get off the ground" Jeanette explained.

"Oh!" Willow laughed.

She then furrowed her brow.

"You think they know that all Kashi wants is the sex?" Willow asked again.

"Ask yourself this. If your brother has as much sex as you say, and still has no steady girlfriend, how could they not? If someone wants a cat bad enough to name their parakeet 'Kitty', it doesn't matter how much you point out it doesn't have whiskers. Jeanette said.

"Huh? Well...I guess. That sorta puts things in a new light. Hey! I don't have laces in my shoes when did that happen?" Willow asked.

Jeanette looked at the shoes she'd pulled off Willow's feet.

"Hum so you don't... there is a light scrape here on the tongue of the shoe, as if someone cut them off." Jeanette said.

Willow thought back. She was in her sock feet when she woke up in the chair in the warehouse. She cast her mind back, trying to recall how she got her shoes back. She could remember wearing them since she woke up. She frowned trying to solve that puzzle.

"Oh! Don't frown! I think I can find some spare laces around here you can use! Those two timing freaks! I'm so sorry you had to put up with that." Jeanette soothed.

Willow shrugged. Her mind turning from that problem and the related dark thoughts of her kidnaping

"Yeah do you think there might be other double agents in your group? You said they were spies working for that Sabbat." Willow asked, changing the subject.

"There always could be. We're really lucky that my friend Bert works to catch double agents in the Nosferatu clan. If he hadn't got wind of them getting ready to sell something valuable to the Sabbat, those Anarch would have never came out of their hole to put a stop to it. Double lucky that the traitors were dumb enough to try to shake the Sabbat goons down for more money. Thus starting that fight. That is why I called a close friend to see you home. Someone I can trust. Do you have anyone you can trust like that? I mean, other then your brother and mother? A best friend or.. maybe a boyfriend?" Jeanette added a playfully teasing tone to the word boyfriend and a smile to match.

"No I don't. Just mom and Kashi. I'm so much younger then my classmates and most guys are turned off by smart girls. I guess that is why so many girls act dumb. It's not fair how it doesn't work that way for boys. Even though Kashi acts like a complete numbskull and girls hang over him." Willow said.

She giggled and quieted to a conspiratorial whisper.

"Well, except one!" She gossiped.

"OH! The cock finds a hen in the house his strutting doesn't mean scratch to? Do tell! Is she not interested in his little worm?" Jeanette asked gleefully.

"Well it's not little. I've sold his pictures before to grown women who seem to be obsessed with what they can see through his baggy shorts. But nope, that doesn't impress her one bit! She can see right through to what a complete goober he is! She's way out of his league. She goes to private school. Kashi only met her 'cause her cousin goes to his school. She plays on the girl's soccer team. Or she used to, at least. She Manifested a few days before Kashi got his powers. I guess she'll be taking special Manifested training classes now, rather than finishing up and going to a university." Willow said.

"Oh that's too bad! I mean, it's good for her, but she won't have much time for her friends now will she? Goes back to that loneliness we've been talking about?" Jeanette said.

Willow nodded sadly.

"Well I hope Therese didn't scare you with her ice queen routine. I think she actually builds up layers of frost...her own Igloo, if you will, to hold out the cold. Me? I'd rather rub noses to warm things up." Jeanette said.

Willow smiled.

"Oh no! I thought she was pretty powerful and in control. She impressed me! More women should take charge and live like that or umm...unlife I guess." Willow gushed.

Jeanette giggled.

"Life is fine to describe it." Jeanette said.

"You're pretty cool too, Jeanette. Have you ever had a boyfriend? I mean like a special one? Someone you loved?" Willow asked.

"Hum... difficult question, sugar bean. It's tangled up in threads and stuffed into a ball." She responded cryptically.

"I didn't mean to pry I just wondered. I mean we were talking about it so..." Willow said.

"Oh no! You didn't' ask anything wrong. I just don't know how I feel about the person in question It's so complex. But he's gone now, and even if he wasn't, I don't think I could be close to him." Jeanette replied.

Willow looked into Jeanette's unaccustomed serious face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" WIllow prodded.

"Well I never have with anyone, but, despite... not knowing you for long Willow there is something about you. Something that says I can trust you. You just seem cool and a lot like me and Therese when we were little." Jeanette said.

"Oh? Well! I think you're pretty cool too, Jeanette!" Willow said.

She was practically aglow with the praise.

"Someone thinks I'm cool!" Willow thought excitedly.

"Even so I don't' feel up to saying too much, but he moved away. Before he moved away he was sort of Therese's boyfriend. The only one she's ever had. He was a bit like your Kashi, you see. He had a lot of girlfriends. They all knew it, it was no secret but, I think Therese hoped to tame him. Not that she had any experience to base that hope on. She'd never let anyone close before." Jeanette said.

"You were afraid it would be...weird...if you got involved with him? Because your sister?"

Jeanette only nodded.

"In the end he moved on. He wouldn't stay for Therese and she wouldn't leave for him..." Jeanette revealed.

"That is so very sad." Willow said.

"Oh well, I have a lot of boyfriends! It didn't seem fair to take the only one Therese had. She IS my sister. Even if we were fighting, that move would have been the straw that escalated it from fighting to all out war." Jeanette explained.

"Oh, you want to hear about starting a war! Oh don't get me started! The other day... it was like a day... or was it two? Anyhow not long before Kashi gained his powers, Kashi escalated things into a war...!" Willow began.

* * *

Across the Street

* * *

The Cowboy sat on his bike in a parking space in front of an abandoned store. Phone again in han he remained alert, but was not as tense as he had been when Willow was first brought to the club. It was obvious the vampires were going to return her home, which was lucky. She'd be safe again. He blinked in surprise as something appeared on the edge of the local map in his tracking app.

Looking up in surprise, he saw a convoy of the geeky hunter's pregnant roller skate, Kashi's hog, and an old granny on a touring bike.

"Oh Jesus Merciful Christ!" He said in frustration.

"Why now!? They can't find the girl all night when she needs to be found and when she finally gets to a stable situation where she'll be able to return home, these dipwads show up spoiling for a fight!" He thought in despair.

He desperately tried to think of something he could use to divert them from finding Willow. Racking his brain, frantic to think of something, the only solutions he could come up with were too overt to be used. He looked back at them to judge how much time he would have.

He saw the group arguing then following Kashi into a nearby diner.

With a shake of his head at the vagaries of fate, the Cowboy turned back to monitoring Willow.

* * *

The Sunset Diner

* * *

James, Kashi and Lucy entered the dinner. James looked around with a look of distaste on his face..

"I wouldn't trust the food in this dump." He whined

"Oh buckle down and grow a pair! Being a Hunter is not all frill and glitter, kid!" Lucy chided him.

"I feel silly enough as it is, traveling around with the two of you dressed like that." James lamented.

Lucy was now wearing a pair of faded sweatpants that likely started off as black but now where a vaguely greyish color. Her shirt featured a Famous 80's action hero giving the camera a thumbs up his infamous black car was in the background. Kashi had a pair of faded bell bottoms and an oversized T-shirt large enough he might have used it as a sail. It had a cartoon Cereal character pleading with kids to share their breakfast.

Kashi pushed ahead choosing to ignore the banter plopping down at the bar counter a small elderly caucasian lady with blue gray hair ambled up on the other side of the counter. Kashi saw she had Dorris on her name tag

"What'll it be kid?" Doris asked.

"I've never eaten here before, you got a menu?" Kashi asked.

Lucy and James settled into seats near the overly excited teen. As Kashi reached for the menu his oversized shirt tangled on the back of his chair, with frustration Kashi stood up.

"That's it's! As much as I like the rabbit, this shirt is seriously cramping my style." Kashi lamented.

Kashi stripped the shirt off and wadding it none too neatly tossed it to Lucy.

"I don't get it! You were nearly sobbing your eyes out back in West Hollywood, now you wanna eat? And show off your abs?" James inquired.

"Hey that mess was hard work! I've worked up an appetite!" Kashi replied.

"Give the kid a break. It's ancient tradition to eat after a battle. Besides, kid, you never know in this sort of case when your next meal will come." Lucy commented as she peered at the menu.

"Sure I do! It'll be in about an an hour when he gets hungry again." James groused

The elderly waitress returned and chose to start with James.

"What you having, honey?" She asked.

"I guess I'll have a grilled cheese...and um...coffee." James said.

"How you like your coffee, sweety?" Doris asked.

"Umm...lots of cream and sugar." James finished

"Such a wussy! Here is how you do it." Lucy said with a shake of her head.

"I'll take your double cheese burger everything on it, extra fries and coffee. Real coffee. Strong and black." Lucy said.

"Just how I like my men." Dorris nodded.

Doris' comment elicited a raised eyebrow from James who didn't know what to make of it. Lucy laughed and gave her a 'go get'm' wink. Kashi was obvious to the exchange, as he was buried in the menu.

"Hey! You've got T-bone steak!" Kashi observed.

"Yeah, we sell some with eggs for breakfast sometimes." Doris replied.

"Wow! Okay! I'll take the T-bone and eggs, two chicken breasts, double fries, and what the heck give me some toast with grape jam! Oh yeah, and a Diet Coke!" Kashi ordered

"Is that all?" Doris remarked sarcastically.

"Yeah you're right...better toss in a large bowl of chili and some sausage to go with the eggs." Kashi added.

With a blink, Doris looked at James and Lucy who only nodded sadly. Doris went into the back to put the cook to work. James turned to Kashi.

"Diet Coke, Kashi? Isn't that like trying to put out a bonfire with a teaspoon for you?" James asked somewhat bewildered.

Kashi patted his abdomen.

"Don't wanna get fat and lose my abs! Did you know when I was in elementary school, I was kind of pudgy?" Kashi asked.

"You could have knocked me over with a feather..." James replied caustically.

"Yeah! They were sure during sixth grade JV football I was gonna be a linebacker! I was the biggest and heaviest kid in the grade back then!" Kashi revealed.

"Well, while you were planning out your gluttony, I noticed something. Those two in the corner booth in the back are vampires." James pointed out.

Lucy reached for the ketchup and took a serious look at the two. It was a male and female vampire. The female was a curvy, strawberry blond who looked every inch the wholesome beach bunny. The male was a shirtless, well muscled blond with a prominent nose. From his hair cut and demeanor he looked every inch the bunny surfer's boyfriend.

"Okay... here is what we'll do..." Lucy began.

She stopped mid sentence as she noticed Kashi wasn't in his seat. She spun, alarmed, to find he was walking right up to the booth where the vampires sat.

"Hey the name's Kashi! You look like you might be my kind of people." Kashi said as he barged over.

He sat himself down at their booth and continued without pause focusing on the vampires. He didn't see a large chopper pull up beside the club across the street or the bearded vampire that hopped off the bike go inside.

"Now I know you two are vampires, which apparently isn't all glittering in the sun, angst about your true love, and really awkward pauses in dialogue. In fact, I would say if you love the beach as much as I do, it's got to be pretty crappy...you know with the drawbacks of melting in the sun and all. Anyhow, I don't judge people based on race or...umm...deadness or whatever. I give people a shot, you know? So why don't you prove my faith in ya right by helping me out? You see, some vampires kidnapped my sister last night at around four in the vampires are dead but she was hauled off in a white van by some other vampires. We saw one of them. The van was followed by this really butchy biker chick. Ring any bells?" Kashi asked.

Surprise clearly registered on their faces, the stunned vampires looked at each other with an incredulous expression. Then the male finally spoke.

"Janice you think...?" He began.

"E! We can't just go talking to this guy! What if he's a Hunter!" The female whispered.

"Oh no! I'm not a Hunter!" Kashi assured.

Kashi turned in his chair and continued.

"They're the hunters over there, but don't worry about them! You see, they're the idiots that talked my twelve year old sister into trying to travel across L.A. in the dead of night." Kashi explained.

The male vampire the girl identified as 'E.' held out his hand.

"Sounds like you've got quite the story, mate. I'm E. this is Lily. Maybe you'd better start from the top give us the rundown." He responded in an Australian accent.

"Well, I guess it all really started about a week ago..."Kashi said as he began his long tale.

Engrossed in storytelling, Kashi didn't see the vampire come out with Willow and take off on his bike.


	7. Chapter 7

Authors' thanks

Thanks for reading here is the final chapter in this story. However there is a lot going on in the Shard of Darkness. I have plenty of room for more stories and adventures in this world. Any suggestions about what sort of stories you want to see next are welcome. Any RPG fans who desire, I have the still evolving setting document and rules that I am working on PM for a link.

* * *

The Asylum

* * *

Back inside the Asylum, Jeanette opened the door to the security room. Inside, the supremely ugly vampire, Bertram Tung, looked up from the security cameras.

"Gotta hand it to you, Jeanette, you pumped that kid for every ounce of information and she never saw it coming. That was likely more then those idiots who originally scooped her up would ever have gotten out of her with their methods" He commented.

"Of course Berty you catch more flies with honey then you do with leather straps and scalpels." Jeanette noted.

"If those Sabbat hadn't shown up, Gary would have had a time trying to figure out how to cover it up despite the Tremere's little warning. Lucky us. With them dead there is nothing to counter your story that they were double agents working for the sabbat. I do wonder how those guys got sloppy enough to let the sabbat catch them with their pants down like that however."

"Berty, with all due respect to your brethren, they didn't strike me as the sharpest tacks in the clan's bed of nails. I mean they used kidnaping and torture to do something any fledgeling Toreador could have done with a wink and a lascivious smile." Jeanette chided.

Bertram adjusted the video controls.

"Don't get too cocky, Jeanette. You did good but you don't know that girl as well as you think." Bertram warned.

"She's a dusty china doll on a shelf between glass bottles and bric a brac, Berty. I showed her an ounce of kindness and now I have a friend for life." Jeanette assured him.

With a smile, Bertram ran the security video of the office. Jeanette watched, somewhat puzzled. It was video from when Therese left the girl.

"What of it? That's when my sister went to get me and I called Jack." She shrugged.

No sooner were the words out of Jeanette's lips that her eyes widened slightly as she saw Willow get up and sit down at Therese's desk. She typed the computer's password and brought up the Internet. Typing in the name of the club off its letter head, she pulled up a map of where she created a e-mail account with a free e-mail site and started writing a letter.

"How the hell did she get my sisters password!?" Jeanette marveled.

"She watched her arm and wrist movements. She has the layout of a standard keyboard memorized. When she was eyeing the painting, she was keeping Therese in the corner of her eye. Old school hacker trick. Never leave a hacker alone in a room with technology" Bertram grinned.

"What did she do?" Jeanette pointed at the image.

"She sent herself a plea for help with her location. If she had gone missing, she knew the cops would find it when the searched her accounts. Pretty standard procedure these days. Insurance in case Therese didn't send her home. When she gets there, she can delete her own message and no one be the wiser. Well except she didn't know about the camera." Bert explained.

"So she's good at this?" Jeanette asked.

"Good? We haven't even gotten to the part where she loads a backdoor in for herself for future use. She uploaded a worm that she can stop if she gets home that will crash the very computer Therese uses for most of her business. She logged out just before you got into the room." Bertram said.

"Why Berty should I be jealous?! You sounds like you're admiring another woman!" Jeanette teased.

"Lets just say there's a reason we Nosferatu found she was in contact with the Hunters so quickly. This kid appeared on our radar as a potential recruit two years ago. It was only after we scouted her out that we learned she was only ten. We kept our eye on her you don't stay Ten forever. The kid's a true prodigy." Bertram said.

"...and the kidnap squad was on hand for this 'cause they are the ones who keep track of your potential recruits?" Jeanette asked.

"Well not many people are lining up to voluntarily join clan Nosferatu. Let's just say they panicked and went with what they know." Bertram said.

"I take it she's now off the recruitment list? Or have you decided to ignore Maxie's little warning?" Jeanette prodded.

"Hell no! We aren't touching her with a ten foot pole! Oh well. Her loss. You can really improve your skills when you have forever." Bertram commented.

Jeanette smiled

"Show me, lover! Or do you only lust after girls you meet online?" Jeanette asked teasingly.

With a smile, Bertram gleeful chased Jeanette back into the bedroom.

* * *

The Tremere Chantry

* * *

Entering the Tremere Chantry inner sanctum again, Sol nodded to the Regent of the chantrey with barely adequate humility.

"A surprise Sabbat raid helped turn things in our favor! The Sabbat slew the girl's Nosferatu captors very early in the night just, as they first starting to working her over. Warned by our message, Bertram Tung contacted a group of Anarchs through Jeanette Voerman to deliver a cell phone to them. The original plan would have had the Nosferatu team eliminated by Gary Golden himself. With the Sabbat doing the job for us, it was easier" Sol explained

"Perhaps not so fortunate, apprentice. Had your original plan gone through, we would have been able to collect evidence that the Nosferatu Primogen had personally taken a hand in eliminating his clan mates. That is powerful information to hold." Maximilian countered

"Only if he truly went through with the act, however, I bet he was merely going to report he'd killed them while exiling them back east somewhere. That would have left the unacceptable risk of discovery and necessitated our clan needing to having to them eliminated." Sol replied

"Perhaps so, and after this timely intervention?" Maximilian prodded

"The Anarch pawns delivered the girl to Voermans sister, Therese. She cowed them and shook them down for a favor, hinting that they were in over their heads. After this, she used her sister's Anarch contacts to call in a suitably wiley agent to take the girl home. While she was at it, Jeanette befriended the child and artfully led her into revealing a great deal of information, which her business minded sister pointed out should cover Tung's personal debt to us for the warning which will be transferred to Therese herself." Sol continued

"I see. So the end result seems to be our clan has gained one favor from the Nosferatu, the clothing of the being so infused with power he channels the sun itself, and a dossier on the subject provided by a member of his family." Maximillion pondered.

Sol felt proud of his achievements thus far however he became worried again when the Regent again looked up from his inner thoughts.

"Adequate work, but notice, despite only being a proverbial third wheel in this, the Voerman sisters have managed to gain one favor from the Nosferatu, a personal boon from Tung, as well as a debt from the Anarch rable, not to mention forging a contact they alone can exploit in friendship with the sister of this..." the Regent paused.

He leafed through the report and continued where he left off.

"...of this Kashi person. All the while owing no one! Now that, my apprentice, is true politicking among the Eternal Struggle of our kind. I expect you to study what that pair of demented Malkavian strumpets did with care, for if they can do such, the sharp wits of a Tremere ought to do better!" Maximilian pointed out.

Sol looked down at his feet. He felt angered and frustrated. He could never seem to please the Regent, as if he always existed in the shadow of others.

"Still your efforts pass. As promised, I will forget your indiscretion in dealing with the package that started all of this. You may depart. I wish to study this report." The Regent decreed.

Relieved, Sol started to leave, but turned back to face his master.

"One final thing, Regent. I managed a few glimpses of the girl as she was being brought into the club and taken back out. There was some...unusual...fluctuations both in her aura and a lingering sense of magic about her. I'm afraid the nature of these is outside my experience. Perhaps they might mean more to you?" Sol stated.

He passed Maximilian a small, palm sized notebook of handwritten observations.

Glancing at them Maximilian Straus nodded and turned back to the Nosferatu report. Sol, knowing this was a second dismissal, left. Once the door closed, however, Strauss put down the Nosferatu report and went over Sol's findings carefully.

"If I can confirm these, I will have to report them to my Lord, maybe even the Pontifice." Straus mused.

He continued his studies, of both reports, until dawn.

* * *

Inglewood

* * *

The bedraggled band of Kashi, Lucy, and James pulled up in front of Kashi's house.

"No Willow" Kashi said sadly.

Kashi had been up coming up on 24 hours and was started to get just the slightest bit worn down. James, however, was only hanging on via caffeine. He looked not only ready to pass out but slightly green.

"I told you not to get your hopes up, just cause that 'seeress' vampire said she'd be here." Lucy responded

"Maybe we're in the wrong place. I told you when Rosa said we have to go back to the beginning to find her, we should have gone to Anaheim that is where we really started this mess." James argued.

"What is it with you and trying to drag people off to Anaheim?" Kashi shot back.

"Cool it boys! I think this whole vampire prophetess thing is just something E. and Lily made up to get Kashi to leave, but on the chance it's true, maybe James and I should go back to where he was talking to Willow online." Lucy proposed.

"E. and Lily wouldn't ditch me! They said they wanted to hang out with me again. They liked my stories about what's going on in the sunlit world. Oh, and something about taking me with them was good for their cover? Not sure what that meant." Kashi pondered.

"Likely the fact that when you were done eating, there was enough dishes left on the table that people would believe a party of four had eaten." James shot back.

Just as Kashi was about to open his mouth to respond, a loud chopper came zipping, at breakneck speed, around the corner. It raced right for the group, then pulled suddenly aside, as it slid to stop less than a foot away from the group. Driving the chopper was a denim vest and blue jean wearing example of the bearded biker stereotype. He was exactly the sort of guy Kashi's Old Man had hung out with. On the back of the bike, hanging on tightly, but her face full of excitement and thrill, was Willow!

"Hey hey!" The biker laughed cheerfully.

He planted both of his feet on the ground to steady the bike.

"Yo man, you missing anything?" He asked, hitching his thumb behind him.

Willow leaped off the bike right into Kashi's arms. She clung tightly to him as she wrapped her legs around his waist and buried her face in his neck. She had never been so happy to see her stupid lump of a brother.

"Kashi!" She cried with unexpected emotion.

Overwhelmed, Kashi held her and blinked.

"We took the scenic route to get here! I can't believe the kid's never been on a bike! Oh well, the night's burning! I got to...ummm...JET!" The strange vampire declared.

He then peeled out just as suddenly as he'd appeared.

"Well...I guess we're out too then." Lucy said.

"I don't know ...do you have a bathroom I could use? I think something I ate that that Sunrise Diner is trying to come back up..." James said with a belch.

"I feel fine, heck I ate half your grilled cheese! Don't blame Doris' food." Kashi said.

"I don't know...but before you stirred it into your coffee, I think that cream you used looked a bit soured, kid. You should have taken it black." Lucy offered.

Kashi turned and looked at Willow, overcoming his surprise, relief and worry he quickly turned to agitation. He put Willow down and furrowed his brow.

"What the hell were you thinking Willow!? You could have been killed! Even barring this supernatural shit, a little girl out in L.A. at three in the morning is dangerous as hell!" Kashi exclaimed.

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Now I'm going to be in trouble with Mom! I'm supposed to be grounded, remember!? Mom knows I wasn't home last night when she got in! I didn't get to study! I could lose my scholarship!" He continued.

"I was trying to help! I don't want you to end up locked in a lab somewhere you stupid lump! No! I'm not going to fight you! You're right, I screwed up... first time for everything I guess? I'll cover for you with mom. I'll tell her I snapped my shoe strings and I got you to go out and get me these new ones." Willow explained.

Willow turned her shoe so Kashi could see the strings.

"Where did you get those? I found your strings cut, laying near a pile of dead bodies." Kashi said, his anger only barely reduced.

"A vampire named Jeanette gave them to me. She also gave me a few things for you! Here, Kashi I know you wanted this C.D. I saw she had this at the club. They play music like this there." Willow said.

She fished around in the small bag she carried. It was one of Jeanette's old bags she had given Willow. She then produced a C.D. and thrust it under Kashi's nose. Kashi looked at the CD reluctantly his eyes widened in surprise.

"Holy crap! _Killfuck Soulshitter: The Greatest Hits_! This hasn't even hit the shelves yet!" He marveled.

"Alright, it seems things are okay here. I'm going to take the kid and get him something for indigestion and see him back to his apartment." Lucy announced.

Kashi waved absently at the pair as they took off. He was absorbed in the C.D. case.

"It's an advance copy! The clubs get them as promos helps to popularize the music, you know." Willow remarked.

"This CD has everything: _2/7 Filter_, _Evil Hamster_, _Wheel of Hate_, _Paranoia Combat_...oh, sweet! _Chungira's Wrath_! That's my favorite!" Kashi marveled at the track listing.

"I also have some gift cards for you. When I told Jeanette how much you use them, she said maybe they would help make up for you having such a bad night! It's like five hundred bucks worth of fast food cards." Willow said.

"Oh wow...yeah okay...well...let's just get inside before mom wakes up and freaks out even more." Kashi mumbled.

* * *

Epilogue

* * *

The Cowboy stopped his bike in front of a coffee house. He strode through the double doors holding them open while he took a good long look at patronage. He then walked in letting them swing back. He crossed the room with a purposeful stride, until he stopped at booth in the back and took a seat across a from a young man in faded jeans, a simple, tan jersey and an unzipped grey hoodie that looked as if the hood had never been pulled up. His jaw had a shadow of hair that appeared to be a feeble attempt at growing a goatee.

"So the steel horse rider returns at last. Let me guess; she was attacked by an Apache Warband and you had to save her while Bon Jovi blared a soundtrack in the background complete with pyrotechnics?" The young man quipped.

"Kid, the day you get some fashion sense, a wardrobe that isn't all drab colors, and learn to make up your mind to shave or grow a beard, now that will be the day I give a damn for your opinion." The Cowboy shot back with no particular malice.

"Oh? So spill it! What went wrong?" The hacker inquired.

"What didn't go wrong? She started searching the net for things related to what ever that weird power is her brother's suddenly manifested. You know those Nosferatu that we were sure weren't a problem so we were leaving them be? Suddenly they became a problem. The warding spells around her kept her safe, but they took a hit or two. They caused some improbable coincidences. I think they caused a bit of paradox too...something about her shoes showing up on her feet when she needed them, despite her not having been wearing them." The Cowboy explained.

"Oh great! That's just perfect! We were so sure they were going to wait till she was twenty or thirty before they made a play for her! That would have been well down the road, I mean we just have to watch until her birthday in December...we're literally counting the weeks. Damn! Whatever it is that happened to her brother...it's skewing our careful calculations completely off. He was supposed to be an inert, negligible component." The Hacker lamented.

"I know and more of these things are showing up. Like that musician, the one who channeled magic through his new set of songs." The Cowboy worried.

"Yeah, that Odele kid, well you've been up all night. I'll send your report in and attach a request to run the numbers on the predictions again." The Hacker offered.

"Tell them to check the wards again. They looked okay, which is odd for how active it was. If it's not responsible for all of what happened, I think her Avatar stirred." The Cowboy cautioned.

"Oh, Crap! You think she's awakened?" The Hacker guessed.

"No, not that. We'd know if her Avatar was fully online. This close to awakening, a few twists and turns in its sleep aren't too rare. Particularly if she's going to be as powerful as predicted. Just make the reports and stay alert. Let's not have any more surprises." The Cowboy explained.

He got up and strode out of the coffee shop to get some shut eye. He was thankful he had been the one watching when this emergency had happened. He wasn't sure he trusted any of the others on this assignment to handle it. Especially now that that her brother had complicated everything with that weird power he'd gained. He privately hoped he was the Virtual Adept on shift watching Willow when her Avatar awakened.

* * *

The End.

* * *

Now continued in Halloween of Horror!


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